Did you know that many dinosaurs were VEGETARIANS? We can tell which dinosaurs ate plants by
looking at fossils of their teeth. Animals that eat plants have very different looking
teeth than meat-eaters. Many plant-eating dinosaurs also had bird-like heads, with a
beak. Here are 9 dinosaurs who loved to eat veggies!
Triceratops Triceratops lived in the Cretaceous Period,
about 65 million years ago. This dinosaur was a quadruped, which means
it walked on 4 legs. A full-sized Triceratops grew up to 9 meters
long, about 3 meters tall, and weighed up to 9 tons.
The Triceratops had an enormous head - about ⅓ the length of its whole body.
Triceratops gets its name from the 3 horns on its huge head. The name comes from the
Greek words "tri," meaning 3, and "keratops," which means "horned face." So its name
means 3 horned face! One clue that Triceratops was a plant-eater
is its mouth that opened and shut like a bird's beak.
It had hundreds of teeth arranged in many rows. When one set of teeth wore out from
munching on all those plants, another set of teeth took their place.
Triceratops also had a frill sticking up from its back, like a collar. What was it used
for? Maybe for staying cool.
Stegosaurus Stegosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic period,
about 150 million years ago. This quadruped was about the size of a bus!
Stego got up to about 9 meters long, 4 meters tall, and weighed up to 5 tons.
Notice Stegosaurus had a much smaller head than Triceratops. Compared to its huge body,
Stegosaurus had a surprisingly small brain - about the size of a dog's.
The name Stegosaurus comes from the Greek word "Stegos," meaning "roof" or "covered."
This name comes from the early idea that Stegosaurus was covered with bony plates. This was before
we had complete fossils of Stegosaurus. Now we think the bony plates formed a staggered
row on Stegosaurus's back. These plates may have helped Stegosaurus regulate
its body temperature. Another theory is that they may have attracted mates, and helped
to scare off predators! Another interesting feature of this dinosaur
is its spiky tail. Scientists believe the spikes were used to defend Stegosaurus from
predators. Look out, meat-eaters!
Brontosaurus Another Late Jurassic dinosaur, the Brontosaurus
was one of the largest animals to have ever walked the Earth, at about 22 meters long
and weighing around 15 tons. No wonder its name means "Thunder lizard!"
Boom, boom. These massive quadrupeds were thought to move
very slowly because they were so big. They had a very long neck, as well as a very
long tail. That way they stayed balanced! Brontosaurus may have been able to crack their
long tails like a whip to scare off predators. These dinos must have had powerful hearts
and high blood pressure to circulate blood all the way up their long necks to their head!
Like the Stegosaurus, the Brontosaurus had a small head and a tiny brain.
Even though they had little heads, Brontosaurus had LOTS of teeth to eat veggies with - as
soon as one set wore out, new teeth came in. Their vegetarian diet seemed to keep them
healthy! It's thought that Brontosauruses may have lived up to 100 years old.
Therizinosaurus Therizinosaurus is hard to say. Let's practice!
Ther i zin o saurus!
This dinosaur lived during the Cretaceous Period,
about 75 million years ago.
It was a bipedal dinosaur! That means it walked
on its two back limbs. Therizinosaurus got up to 10 meters long and
weighed up to 10 tons. Imagine a giant ostrich this size!
"Therizo" comes from the Greek word meaning "to rake" or "to cut off." You can
see why this dino got this name by looking at its long, rake-like claws.
Therizinosaurus's unusual claws were about 3 feet long! This is the longest known claw
from any animal EVER. Scientists believe this dinosaur used its
claws to defend itself from predators, as well as to cut and pull branches from tall
trees. Now remember, we usually identify plant-eating
dinosaurs by their teeth. But we don't know what this dinosaur's teeth look like!
That's because a skull for this dinosaur has never been found. It is possible the therizinosaurus
was carnivorous - that is, they ate meat -
but other members of this dinosaur family were herbivores.
Ankylosaurus Ankylosaurus lived at the end of the Cretaceous
Period, around 66 million years ago. Its beak with many rows of little leaf-shaped
teeth identify this dinosaur as an herbivore. Scientists estimate it reached a maximum length
of around 6 metres and a weight of around 6 tons. But it only stood about 2 meters tall.
This slow moving dino-tank needed protection from bad guys. This protection was a plate
of body armor made of bones and a massive tail like a club that could break the legs
of attackers! Even the Ankylosaurus's eyelids were plated for protection.
Ankylosaurus means "Fused lizard". It was given that name because bones in its skull
and other parts of its body were fused, making the dinosaur extremely rugged.
The plates of body armor on Ankylosaurus is similar to the kind found on crocodiles and
armadillos. The Ankylosaurus was one of the last dinosaurs
to ever walk planet Earth.
Parasaurolophus Hey kids! Can you say this one? Parasaurolophus
lived in the late Cretaceous Period, around 75 million years ago.
This dinosaur got up to about 10 metres in length and weighed around 3 tons.
It gets its name because it looks a lot like a different dinosaur, the Saurolophus, whose
name means "Crested Lizard." Parasaurolophus means "Near Crested Lizard."
Like the Saurolophus, Parasaurolophus could walk on two legs or four.
Another shared feature is the crest on its head. The Saurolophus crest was like a spike,
while the Parasaurolophus crest is more like a long, curved pipe pointing backwards from
the skull. There has been much debate about the functions
of the crest, but these days most scientists agree that it helped Parasaurolophus identify
male and females, increased hearing ability and also helped regulate body temperature.
Computer simulations showed that the crest shape may also have been used as a horn to
alert others from afar. Tooooot!
Dracorex Dracorex lived during the late Cretaceous
Period, about 70 million years ago. Dracorex means "Dragon King!" The bones
of the Dragon King were recently discovered in 2004. You can visit this skeleton at the
Children's Museum in Indianapolis. Dracorex's full scientific name—Dracorex
hogwartsia—is a tribute to the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling and means "Dragon
King of Hogwarts." The appearance of the skull resembles the
legendary dragons from fairy tales. It has a long muzzle and a skull with many bumps
all over it and spiky horns. So far, only the skull of Dracorex has been
found. Reconstructions suggest the dinosaur was approximately 3 meters long, about a meter
high, and weighed around 100 pounds. While this dinosaur is classified as an herbivore,
its sharp teeth suggest it might actually have been an omnivore - meaning it would eat
just about anything. It's suspected that the Dracorex may actually
be a teenage Pachycephalosaurus. Scientists think the head of the Pachycephalosaurus changed
and developed as the dinosaur grew up. We'll need to find more fossils to know for sure.
Iguanodon Iguanodon lived in the early Cretaceous Period,
around 125 million years ago. The name Igaunodon means "Iguana Tooth."
Iguanodons aren't closely related to Iguanas, but their teeth look a lot alike!
Unlike a lot of other plant-eating dinosaurs, the Iguanodon didn't have tons of rows of
replacement teeth. They made just one row of backup teeth at a time.
Igaunodons were about 10 meters long, and weighed over 3 tons.
They had a tall, narrow skull and a long, stiff tail.
These dinosaurs could switch between walking on two feet and four.
The Iguanodon had long arms and unusual hands. The three central fingers could support weight,
and they had a spiky thumb that stood out. This spiky thumb may have been used to fight
off predators. The character "Godzilla" was based on
a combination of the Iguanadon, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Stegosaurus.
Stegoceras - Stegoceras lived during the Late Cretaceous
period, about 75 million years ago.
Wait, did we say Stegosaurus?
No, StegoCEras.
Stegoceras is known for its dome-shaped head. Its name means "Horned Roof."
This dinosaur had a very thick skull, about 3 inches thick! It's fun to think that these
dinosaurs had head-butting contests, similar to sheep and goats. They also may have protected
themselves from predators by headbutting,
or swinging their tough heads into a predator's side.
Much smaller than the stegosaurus, the stegoceras
were about 2 meters long, and weighed up to 40 kilograms.
They had strong back legs and weak upper front legs.
The Stegoceras had small, curved teeth. Its teeth were so similar to another dinosaur,
the Troodon, that scientists first thought they were the same kind of dinosaur. Eventually
they found enough differences to say Stegoceras should have its own separate name.
Those were a few of our favourite plant-eating dinosaurs. Did we talk about your favourite?
What kinds of dinosaurs should we talk about next? Let us know in the comments. We want
to know what you think! Now it's time to watch another video about ANIMALS. You get
to pick what to see next - let's go!
Thanks for watching! :)
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