article_snippet.sent: researchers say that the key differences between the sexes lie in bones near the base of the tail.
article_snippet.sent: One is a complete skeleton, while the other is missing the middle and end of its tail.
article_snippet.sent: So instead, the researchers looked at indirect evidence of sexually dimorphic display structures, which are evident today in birds.
article_snippet.sent: After studying the fossils carefully, The team found signs of sexual dimorphism in the length and shape of blade-like bones called chevrons, which point downwards from the vertebrae near the base of the tail.
article_snippet.sent: A number of chevrons in one of the fossils were longer and had broader tips than those in the other specimen, indicating the creature is male, the experts said.
article_snippet.sent: the experts suggested that males had larger chevrons to anchor the muscles that controlled the experts flexible, feather-tipped tails.
article_snippet.sent: male oviraptorosaurs suspect females had shorter chevrons to make laying eggs easier.
article_snippet.sent: We discovered that, although the two oviraptors were roughly the same size, the same age and otherwise identical in all anatomical regards, “Romeo” had larger and specially shaped tail bones,’ Mr Persons said.
article_snippet.sent: This indicates that it had a greater capacity for courtship displays and was likely a male.
article_snippet.sent: By comparison, the second specimen, Juliet, had shorter and simpler tail bones, suggesting a lesser capacity for peacocking, and has been interpreted as a female.
article_snippet.sent: Therefore, there is a possibility that the difference in Chevron shape was a variation, rather than a sign of sexual dismorphism.
highlights_snippet.sent: Males have long 'chevron' bones so Males can wiggle Males feathered tails seductively to woo mates, while females have shorter bones in Males tails .