厚頭顱骨的功能仍在爭論中。最常被提出的功能為厚頭龍類以厚頭顱骨彼此對撞,這個概念最早是在1955年被提出[3]。科幻作家L. Sprague de Camp在1956年的小說《A Gun for Dinosaur》,提到這種頭部互撞行為,之後這個印象深植於大眾恐龍書籍。另有許多古生物學家也支持厚頭龍類會以頭部互撞[4][5],如同現今山羊與麝牛的行為。
^1.01.11.2Sullivan, R.M. (2006). "A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia)."New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin,35: 347-365.
^2.02.12.22.32.42.5Longrich, N.R., Sankey, J. and Tanke, D. (2010). "Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA."Cretaceous Research, . {{doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2009.12.002}}
^8.08.1Goodwin, MB; Horner, JR. Cranial histology of pachycephalosaurs (Ornithischia: Marginocephalia) reveals transitory structures inconsistent with head-butting behavior. Paleobiology. June 2004,30 (2): 253–267.doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0253:CHOPOM>2.0.CO;2.
^Snively, E; Theodor, JM. Carpenter, Kenneth , 编. Common Functional Correlates of Head-Strike Behavior in the Pachycephalosaur Stegoceras validum (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) and Combative Artiodactyls. PLoS ONE. 2011,6 (6): e21422.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021422.
^Lehman, TM. Pachycephalosauridae from the San Carlos and Aguja Formations (Upper Cretaceous) of west Texas, and observations of the frontoparietal dome. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2010,30 (30): 786–798.ISSN 0272-4634.doi:10.1080/02724631003763532.
^Woodruff, D. Cary; Schott, Ryan K.; Evans, David C. Two new species of small-bodied pachycephalosaurine (Dinosauria, Marginocephalia) from the uppermost Cretaceous of North America suggest hidden diversity in well-sampled formations. Papers in Palaeontology. 2023-11-15,9 (6). e1535.Bibcode:2023PPal....9E1535W.ISSN 2056-2799.doi:10.1002/spp2.1535(英语).