Herbivore dinosaurs were leaf-eating reptiles that ate plants like ferns, palms, and cycads. They were found all over the world.
Researchers studied the MFHs of herbivorous dinosaur skulls to better understand how they chewed their food. They found that different herbivores adapted their jaw muscles to solve the problem of eating their plant-based diets.
Nodosaurus
Nodosaurus was a herbivore dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago. It was a large, armored animal with bony plates and spikes on its back to protect it from predators like tyrannosaurs.
Its skull and horns were covered with teeth marks made by a Tyrannosaur, showing that the herbivore dinosaur was able to defend itself against this powerful dinosaur. The dinosaur also had a frill shield (like the Triceratops’) that had horns protruding out of it, and it had spikes along its body.
These features helped Nodosaurus fight off predators, and the armor helped the dinosaur avoid being hit by rocks or thrown at it by other animals. It was also a good climber, and its long legs allowed it to go up and down tree branches or bushes quickly.
Scientists discovered the skeleton of a Nodosaurus at a quarry in Alberta, Canada, in 2011. The skeleton has been studied for more than six years by a team of scientists who have been working on the fossils since they were found. They are hoping to learn more about this herbivore dinosaur by studying the ferns in its stomach, which could help them identify the plants it ate.
Sauropelta
Sauropelta was one of the largest herbivore dinosaurs. It was a member of the Nodosaurid family and lived in Early Cretaceous North America.
This large and powerful ankylosaur had a strong, armored body that made it nearly impossible for predators to penetrate. The armor consisted of bands of horn-covered plates that ran from its neck to the end of its long tail.
These plates were a big help in defending the Sauropelta from ferocious carnivores, and it also deterred attacks from predators on the sides of its head and neck. The spikes on its neck were a good defense against sharp-toothed meat-eating dinosaurs such as the dromaeosaurids Deinonychus and Acrocanthosaurus.
Its name is derived from the Greek words oaonio/sauros (‘lizard’) and daeoa/pelte (‘shield’), which is a reference to the armored body of this herbivore dinosaur. Ostrom originally named it S. edwardsi, but in 1991, George Olshevsky corrected it to S. edwardsorum in honor of the Edwards couple, who helped Ostrom’s expedition recover the remains.
This herbivore was part of a diverse group of herbivorous dinosaurs that inhabited the Cloverly Formation in Wyoming and Montana during Early Cretaceous times. This habitat was characterized by wide floodplains and rivers that were covered in forests. The narrow mouth and leaf-shaped teeth of this herbivore suggest that it would have selectively browsed on the soft vegetation in this area.
Liaoceratops
Herbivore dinosaurs are a very important part of our evolutionary history. These creatures lived on land and were primarily carnivorous, but they also ate plants.
One of these herbivore dinosaurs was called Liaoceratops, which means “Liaoning horned face.” This small herbivore dinosaur was discovered in China and is believed to be the first ceratopsian with long horns.
It was a herbivore that specialized in eating ginkgo trees, horsetails and conifers. It was also very agile and could evade predators.
This dinosaur was the oldest known horned ceratopsian, which is an exciting discovery. It also has a frill on its head that makes it unique.
The frill was probably the key to its strength and durability as it held its jaw muscles in place. It was also able to withstand the pressure that came with chewing plants, says Makovicky.
The frill also gave the dinosaur a unique look and helped it stand out from other herbivores, says Makovicky. It was able to survive for more than 2 million years, which is amazing for a horned herbivore!
Parkososaurus
Parksosaurus is a small herbivore dinosaur that lived in Alberta, Canada about 70 million years ago. The animal had a long neck, small head, and short forelimbs. It mainly ate leaves and branches from low-lying plants such as grasses and ferns.
Parksosaurus was a small, agile herbivore that could run quickly. Its long legs and tail made it a good hunter and scavenger.
It is one of the earliest known non-hadrosaurid ornithopods. It lived in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. It was about 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) long and weighed about 40 kilograms (88 pounds).
This herbivore dinosaur was a member of the Thescelosaurus clade, which is closely related to other large-bodied herbivore dinosaurs. This clade includes some of the largest sauropods ever to roam Earth.
Psittacosaurus
Psittacosaurus is a genus of herbivore dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Early Cretaceous period. Several species of this genus have been named, and they differ primarily in body size and tooth and horn ornamentation (Sereno 2009).
Psittacosaurs were small, gazelle-sized bipedal herbivores with long, parrot-like beaks that provided them with a sharp surface for cutting plant materials. They also had a number of unusual adaptations for eating plants, including self-sharpening teeth behind their beak and the ability to slide their lower jaw forward and backward in their bite.
The cranial morphology of psittacosaurs has only been described recently, but it is clear that these herbivores had many novel adaptations. Their basipterygoid processes were much shorter than those of their ceratopsian relatives, and the striations on their dentary teeth are clinolineal rather than radial.
These striations on the teeth suggest that they were able to cut through tough leaves and other plant matter. They were also able to slide their lower jaw forward and backward, which may have helped them shear tough plant material that they would then chew up in the mouth and digest in the stomach.
All Psittacosaurus had gastroliths in their stomachs, which are small stones that they can use to grind up food. However, this feature was only a minor one and does not mean that Psittacosaurus were unable to grind their food in the mouth. They likely used these gastroliths to crush nuts or seeds that had a hard casing and were high in fibre content.
Micropachycephalosaurus
The Micropachycephalosaurus is a small, thick-headed lizard that lived 70 million years ago in Asia. It is a member of the Pachycephalosauria, a group of dome-headed herbivores.
It is thought to be related to a variety of herbivore dinosaurs, including the sauropods. It is also related to the triceratops, which are a group of very large horned herbivore dinosaurs.
This herbivore dinosaur was also known for its long limbs. According to Live Science, this allowed it to stoop down and eat its food.
Another interesting fact about this herbivore dinosaur is that it was able to battle other herbivores, like the Triceratops. One fossil shows that it used its beaks to attack the Tyrannosaurus rex, a predator that was more than capable of destroying this tiny dinosaur.
The Micropachycephalosaurus was a herbivore, which means it ate plants and seeds. It probably lived in woodland areas that had many plant life growing on them. This would have made it easy for them to hide from predators. It was probably a herd animal, living with many relatives nearby.
Oryctodromeus
Oryctodromeus is a small herbivore dinosaur that lived during the mid-Cretaceous. It is related to several other herbivore dinosaurs and probably belongs to the Ornithopoda.
Oryctodromeus has a long snout that is modified for digging, as well as large bony attachments in the shoulder to accommodate powerful muscles. It also has a robust hip and a strong pelvis that helped brace the body while digging.
These features are very similar to those of modern digging cursors, but a new study shows that Oryctodromeus was able to dig deeper than many other herbivore dinosaurs. This discovery suggests that it was a skilled digger and capable of raising its young in its den.
The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, show that Oryctodromeus dug burrows and cared for its young in a den. This is a big step forward in understanding how these herbivore dinosaurs survived and what happened to them during their extinction.