Then James Farlow of lndiana University proposed that the plates were actually Tadiators. If the animals circulated blood through those plates, they could cool down. It would be a useful adaptation in hot climates. This isn't a wild idea. Biologists interested in more modern animals are familiar with the value of radiator structures that suit climate.
Ears can bring a lot of blood close to the air.
If that air is likely to be cold, little ears are better, since they mean less heat loss. The fossil record supports the notion that dinosaurs, like their bird descendants and lizard cousins, didn't have much in the way of external ears. Fancy projections like those emerging from stegosaur backs would have done even better as radiators, so the theory seems logical. Recently it received more support, from another scientist working with another group of dinosaurs. J. Keith Rigby of Notre Dame thinks the frill over the necks of ceratopsid dinosaurs was another such radiator.