 Image copyright Andrey Atuchin Image caption Artist's impression of two ceratopsian dinosaurs: Utahceratops gettyi (l) and Nasutoceratops titusi (r) 
 
 Dinosaurs like the Triceratops may have had horns and frills to attract a mate, a new study suggests. A previous research paper from Queen Mary found that the frill in one ceratopsian species, Protoceratops, may have evolved under sexual selection. A study newly published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B explains that dinosaurs developed these burdensome traits as ways of showing off to potential partners — the same way modern animals such as peacocks do. The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 
 
 Andrew Knapp, PhD candidate from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and lead author of the study, said: "This resolves a long-standing and hitherto untested hypothesis concerning the origin and function of ornamental traits in ceratopsian dinosaurs. "Many general discussions of ceratopsian ornaments in museum signage and popular literature often include examples of what they might have been for, but these tend to be rather speculative." Understanding how the development of these traits can drive species change is important for understanding Earth's history, and also for investigating how modern creatures may evolve in a world where there's intense pressure to survive. Image copyright Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology Image caption Chasmosaurus skeleton: some frills have holes to reduce weight 
 
 "Individuals within large herds such as reindeer don't have trouble distinguishing their siblings," the Queen Mary University of London, UK, researcher said. Many reasons for these features have been debated over time, but some seemingly likely options — including predator defense and temperature regulation — were ruled out by previous research, according to the new study. Putting on a show 
 
 Features that can differentiate between species are usually less elaborate than those distinguishing males and females. To test this hypothesis the researchers examined patterns of diversity in the ornamentation of 46 species of ceratopsians, the horned dinosaurs, but found no difference between species that lived together and those that lived separately. The fossil record offers an opportunity to see evolution in action over much longer time periods than can be achieved with living organisms, but it is difficult to assign explanations to unusual features such as ceratopsian ornaments with the limited information that fossils provide. The researchers also found evidence that ornamental traits seemed to evolve at a much faster rate than other traits. When the goal is to repel, not attract, it is not worth putting in the extra evolutionary effort. "Modern computer models have suggested that sexual selection can promote rapid speciation, adaptation, and extinction," Andrew Knapp, lead study author and a researcher at Queen Mary University of London, said in a statement. "In our world of increasing pressure on the natural world, these predictions may have important consequences for conservation and the fate of living things everywhere."
– The horns and frills of dinosaurs like Triceratops and Styracosaurus weren't for defending against predators, regulating body temperature, or even attaching fearsome battle helmets, according to a study published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Rather researchers found the defining features of ceratopsian dinosaurs were actually for attracting mates. "Individuals are advertising their quality or genetic make-up," researcher Andrew Knapp tells the BBC. "We see that in peacocks too, with their tail feathers." Business Insider reports there are over 70 species of ceratopsian dinosaurs, and their horns and frills vary widely. Researchers behind the recent study had set out to see if the purpose of the horns and frills was to let different species tell each other apart for mating purposes (previous research had ruled out temperature regulation and defense). After looking at 350 different traits from 46 ceratopsian species, researchers concluded that wasn't the case. In modern animals, features for species to differentiate between each other are typically subtler and more evolutionary work goes into features used to attract members of the same species. The relatively speedy evolution of horns and frills was also another clue as to their purpose. "Modern computer models have suggested that sexual selection can promote rapid speciation, adaptation, and extinction," Knapp says in a press release. As for both male and female ceratopsian dinosaurs having horns and frills, Knapp says it could "tell us a lot about how these animals lived." For example, they may have been co-parents when it came to raising their young. (The Sahara Desert revealed the "Holy Grail" of dinosaur discoveries.)