From David Boswell
In his article on morphing dinosaurs, Graham Lawton discusses possible functions of the triceratops’s neck frill, such as it being a signal of maturity. However, he surely implies its real function with the description: “it had numerous large blood vessels running over the surface” (31 July, p 6).
This suggests heat exchange: the frill was either a kind of solar panel, taking in solar energy for heating, or a radiator for cooling, similar to an African elephant’s ears, depending on the environment the animal lived in.
Timsbury, Avon, UK
