Herbivores
Herbivores, or plant eaters, were dinosaurs that ate
plants, leaves, fruits, grass and flowers. Anything
green was considered a meal for these dinosaurs.
Their movements were usually slow as there was no
need for them to chase after their meals! Shorter
herbivores tended to feed on grass and low lying
plants, while the taller ones or those with long
necks used to feed on leaves of trees. Herbivores
usually had blunt teeth that are good for stripping
vegetation (leaves, twigs, etc.). Some also had flat
teeth for grinding tough plant fibres.
!
osaurus
Lambe
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Herbivores ate
whatever vege
ta
Most herbivor
es ate one par tion they could find.
ticu
some ate man
y different ty lar type of plant, but
pes. Many her
such as the sa
bivores,
uropods, grew
ver
diet of leaves a
nd ferns requ y large because their
ired a huge a
of digestion, an
mo
d needed a v
ery long intest unt
could only fit
ine
in large dinosa
urs. They also , which
stones, cal ed g
swal owed
astroliths, that
mo
stomach and
helped grind ved around in their
the food down
.
Herbivores were often eaten
by carnivores (meateating dinosaurs). Because of
this they adapted ways
of defending themselves, or es
caping. These include:
yy Running away from the at
tacking predator
yy •Fight the predator off - so
me herbivores had
clubbed tails (Ankylosaurus),
spikes (Stegosaurus) or
whipping tails (Diplodocus).
yy Intimidate the predator wit
h displays of colour (for
example the Stegosaurus wou
ld flush blood into its
plates and swing its tail spikes).
yy •Body armour - some dinos
aurs had body
armour, such as the Ankylosa
urus and
Euoplocephalus.
yy •Hide from the predator u
sing camouflage
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