Many dinosaurs had distinctive bony frills around their necks - the best-known being the distinctive Triceratops.
It s not a feature found in living animals today, and paleontologists have long debated what the function was of the diverse array of frills and horns in this family of dinosaurs, called ceratopsians.
The large frill that skirts the skull of Protoceratops dinosaurs was more likely used as a signal to prospective mates - rather than for defence or cooling their bodies, a new study has suggested.
The large frill that skirts the skull of Protoceratops dinosaurs was likely used as a signal to prospective mates, a new study has suggested.(Andrew Knapp / Natural History Museum London)