How armor, spikes, size, and herding may have cut predation risk β and where the debate still stands.
Plant-eating dinosaurs weren't just running from predators. Structures as different as Triceratops horns, the Ankylosaurus tail club, and Stegosaurus tail spikes may all have played a role in defense. But a conspicuous structure could just as easily have served display, species recognition, or competition within the same species β often all at once.
This list works from healed bone injuries, joint range of motion, and shape changes across growth stages to weigh how likely each defensive function actually was. Comparing weapon size alone misses which direction a structure could move and what it was actually protecting. Separating confirmed anatomy from the interpretation built on top of it is the key to reading this topic well.
