Most dinosaurs ate plants. Even though they were so huge, Sauropods like Brachiosaurus lived on green grass and shrubs. Scientists know this from looking at their teeth that have been found in fossils. Some dinosaurs ate meat. One of the most famous dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex, was a meat-eater and had sharp teeth and claws to help him get his food. Animals that eat plants are called herbivores. Animals that eat meat are called carnivores.
The dinosaurs herbivores probably also ate a variety of other things to supplement their diets, as twigs and seeds. And some scientists speculate that these plant-eaters probably consumed stones as well. Just like modern birds. These stones would help their stomachs grind down the plant material further so they could extract the nutrients from it.
There were dinosaurs that preferred eating plants. One example is the Triceratops. A worksheet of this dinosaur can be found and can be downloaded for free. Here. Herbivorous dinosaurs mainly ate angiosperms. The names for herbivorous dinosaurs depends on their body structure. For instance, ornithopods were bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores, Stegosaurians were plated quadrupeds, ceratopsians were horned and frilled quadrupeds, sauropodomorphs were long-necked and long-tailed quadrupeds, and Ankylosaurians were armored quadrupeds. The Triceratops belongs to the group of ceratopsians and it is said to be among the last dinosaurs to have disappeared before extinction.
You can tell what the carnivores like T-Rex and Velociraptor ate just by looking at their teeth. These dinosaurs had long, serrated teeth that were designed for one purpose and one purpose alone: ripping flesh from the bones of other dinosaurs. This would have made these animals the apex predators of their time. However, not all scientists believe that these carnivores were indeed hunters. Some believe that they were actually scavengers. Eating the flesh of dinosaurs that have died from natural causes, or stealing the eggs of other dinosaurs. While neither explanation has been fully proven, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. These dinosaurs probably hunted and scavenged to meet their caloric requirements.
Did any of the dinosaurs eat both plants and meat? Probably. Fossils show that certain species had different kinds of teeth - some for grinding and others for tearing - which suggests that they may well have feasted on both types of food. Omnivorous dinosaurs that ate both include Nothronychus, Hagryphus, Beipiaosaurus, Yunnanosaurus, Citipati and Nomingia. These dinosaurs not only ate plants and meat that they scavenged but also quite likely feasted on a variety of different insects.
The information above can help you know "what dinosaurs eat?". Well, as you can clearly see it all depended on what type of dinosaur they were and what type of teeth they had. As plant eaters probably lived on a variety of leaves, twigs, and seeds which would have included conifers, geiko plants, redwoods, yews, pines, cypress, and Cyclades. They may have also eaten a variety of angiosperms and other flowering plants. Meat eaters, on the other hand, probably not only lived off the carcasses of dinosaurs they either hunted or scavenged, but also probably fed off of insects. Omnivores probably lived off whatever was readily available—whether it was animal, vegetable or insect...
You can find many other pieces of information about dinosaurs in our Dinosaur Pictures collection. They are a complete collection of images, information about height, weight, skin of dinosaur, what dinosaur eat? where they live? etc. With this dinosaur pictures collection, it's useful for students, teachers, parents to study, discuss, etc. You are free to use any information from this site.
