detecting sexual dimorphism on dinosaur fossils and their courting habits

[sauroid]

a pair of Oviraptors yield new clues about dinosaur mating habits

http://uofa.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2015/april/romeo-and-juliet-fossils-offer-new-insights-into-the-sex-and-romance-of-dinosaurs

[reinier zwanink]

Sounds very logic to
Nice to see they are getting closer
Cant imagine this on a sauropode thou

[Tyto_Theropod]

This is a fascinating piece of research, but how do we know it was the males who did the displaying? Of course we can infer that, because it's true in modern birds, but it could have been the other way round for all we know... 

[sauroid]

i have never read any studies nor seen videos of female birds displaying gaudy plumage and courting males. even among lower vertebrates namely reptiles and fish, the males are the ones more elaborately designed and more active in pursuing the females during breeding. correct me if im wrong.

[Halichoeres]

Usually the males are the gaudier ones, but not always. Among birds, phalaropes and jacanas spring to mind as examples where females are more colorful and mate with multiple males, and the males do all the brooding. There might be others, but those are the only ones I know.

[stargatedalek]

Its an interesting theory but there just so many unknowns that it really can't prove anything for certain. What's to tell us that the extra flexibility wasn't a medical condition? Or perhaps a (well) healed injury? There are just so many unknowns that it feels incredibly premature to go assuming one was male.

[Yutyrannus]

i have never read any studies nor seen videos of female birds displaying gaudy plumage and courting males. even among lower vertebrates namely reptiles and fish, the males are the ones more elaborately designed and more active in pursuing the females during breeding. correct me if im wrong.

Red Phalaropes do.