ArticlePeerJ2026
Let them fight: using finite element analysis to determine combative evolutionary drivers of ceratopsian (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) horns.
Article in PeerJ, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The intensely-researched fossil record of ceratopsian dinosaurs makes them an ideal clade to test hypotheses of morphological evolutionary drivers. These dinosaurs are best known for their extravagant headgear, including an assortment of cranial horns and often elaborate frills. While the frills have been suggested as display structures, their horns have been hypothesized as intraspecific combat weapons with various fighting styles from modern analogs providing ample baselines for testing. However, while direct fossil evidence of intraspecific combat does exist, an absence of biomechanical data makes determining whether different ceratopsid taxa were best suited to specific combat styles very difficult. Here we used 3D finite element analysis to model differences in biomechanical performance in simulated combat behaviors of five ceratopsian taxa (
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.