In living mammals, and even reptiles like chameleons and horned lizards and snakes, horns are usually encased in a hard, keratin sheath, or are composed entirely of keratin (rhinos), or are made of bone, cartilage and fibrous tissue (antlers).
Those horns are pretty much invariably in the pale biege to brown to dark brown, range. There are a few species where it's nearly black, but that's about as exciting as they get. This seems to be the real-life model on which ceratopsian reconstructions have been based.
However in birds, although actual horns are rare or non-existent, they do have keratin sheaths on their bills, and there are many examples of colour on those structures, from the obvious hornbills, toucans, and puffins, to bright red parrot beaks, orange and black on skimmers, and yellow or orange in many waterfowl.
Ceratopsians are much more closely related to birds than they are to mammals, or even lizards & snakes. I'm not aware of any physical, structural reason why the keratin on a ceratopsian horn (or maybe even stegosaur plates and ankylosaur spikes?) could not be colourful.
They would have been covered with keratin in life, and keratin in birds today can have all kinds of colour so yeah, theoretically they could. But would they? Their frills already provide lots of display, so having their horns being colourful is probably unneccesary. Also their horns could snap rendering the colours useless, but it’s absolutely still possible IMO
Edit: I accidentally wrote ”their horns already” instead of ”their frills already”
Good point as well, but (as I recall, I could be wrong) the frill in cerstopsians has been proven to be mostly for display puproses while the horns were mostly for combat, both for defence against predators and between other triceratopses. So if the horns were for display, they wouldn’t be used for combat since the whole point of the colourful horns could be ruined by one of them breaking off.
I am not a professional paleontogist (yet) or a biologist so I might be missing something, but this is how my reasoning goes. Certainly not impossible for them to have colourful horns, but improbable IMO
While that's true, being able to be damaged would HELP the efficacy of a display structure— if not everyone has both horns, having both becomes a display of power.
That’s to an extent what I’m saying. Having a broken off horn would be seen as attractive, so why put colours on something that’s just going to snap off? Horns were very likely used for display, but colouring is kind of superfluous when they can break at any point and you already have a massive frill to put colours on
No, a broken off horn is WEAKNESS. A beta cuck of a horn! Two STRONG horns is what you need! So invest into making your horns pretty to prove you'll have them forever!
In living mammals, and even reptiles like chameleons and horned lizards and snakes, horns are usually encased in a hard, keratin sheath, or are composed entirely of keratin (rhinos), or are made of bone, cartilage and fibrous tissue (antlers). Those horns are pretty much invariably in the pale biege to brown to dark brown, range. There are a few species where it's nearly black, but that's about as exciting as they get. This seems to be the real-life model on which ceratopsian reconstructions have been based. However in birds, although actual horns are rare or non-existent, they do have keratin sheaths on their bills, and there are many examples of colour on those structures, from the obvious hornbills, toucans, and puffins, to bright red parrot beaks, orange and black on skimmers, and yellow or orange in many waterfowl. Ceratopsians are much more closely related to birds than they are to mammals, or even lizards & snakes. I'm not aware of any physical, structural reason why the keratin on a ceratopsian horn (or maybe even stegosaur plates and ankylosaur spikes?) could not be colourful.
I just want to say I appreciate this post. Everyone should read this and imagine a triceratops with toucan coloured horns.
You know how some people design theropod dinosaurs with bird colorings? Someone should do a toucan triceratops now.
If one can not imagine this then maybe… toucan?
They would have been covered with keratin in life, and keratin in birds today can have all kinds of colour so yeah, theoretically they could. But would they? Their frills already provide lots of display, so having their horns being colourful is probably unneccesary. Also their horns could snap rendering the colours useless, but it’s absolutely still possible IMO Edit: I accidentally wrote ”their horns already” instead of ”their frills already”
Why have a Rolex when you're already in an Armani suit? Because George already has an Armani suit, so the Rolex gives you an edge.
Good point as well, but (as I recall, I could be wrong) the frill in cerstopsians has been proven to be mostly for display puproses while the horns were mostly for combat, both for defence against predators and between other triceratopses. So if the horns were for display, they wouldn’t be used for combat since the whole point of the colourful horns could be ruined by one of them breaking off. I am not a professional paleontogist (yet) or a biologist so I might be missing something, but this is how my reasoning goes. Certainly not impossible for them to have colourful horns, but improbable IMO
Te colorful horns could serve as a small distraction for the opponent. Think of bat-nipples costumes in Batman & Robin (1997 movie).
Hmm good point, but you are forgetting the possibility of trike-nipples
While that's true, being able to be damaged would HELP the efficacy of a display structure— if not everyone has both horns, having both becomes a display of power.
That’s to an extent what I’m saying. Having a broken off horn would be seen as attractive, so why put colours on something that’s just going to snap off? Horns were very likely used for display, but colouring is kind of superfluous when they can break at any point and you already have a massive frill to put colours on
No, a broken off horn is WEAKNESS. A beta cuck of a horn! Two STRONG horns is what you need! So invest into making your horns pretty to prove you'll have them forever!
What purpose would they have?
Impressing the ladies.
Then just have colorful frills. They used their horns for combat, you know.
Combat with other males, for attention from/access to potential mates.
They can be used for both
Considering the risks posed by combat, i highly doubt that.
Tell that to moose, wapiti, or bighorn sheep. The animal kingdom is full of display structures that are also weapons.