Overview
- Researchers examined roughly 500 caudal vertebrae from hadrosaurs spanning North America, Europe, and Russia.
- Injuries concentrate at the upper tail and display a consistent vertical-to-oblique break, often with signs of healing and occasional repeat trauma.
- Computer modeling and statistical tests indicate the fractures most likely arose from vertical pressure near the cloacal region during copulation.
- Predation and tail-to-tail combat were deemed unlikely causes given the lack of bite marks and the specific injury location.
- If the mating hypothesis is validated, healed tail injuries could identify female individuals, and the team plans to test this further with a larger dataset.