Herbivorous dinosaurs and their importance in the food chain
The presence of living dinosaurs lasted more than 170 million years and extended during most of the Mesozoic period (more commonly known as secondary age or age of reptiles). This era geological extends for 252.2 to 66 million years.
The Mesozoic lasted just over 186.2 million years (MA) and was composed of three periods:
- The Triassic (between -252.17 and 201.3 d.C.) It was a period that lasted about 50.9 million years. This is the period in which dinosaurs developed. The Triassic is divided into three periods. Lower, medium and upper triassic, which in turn are subdivided into seven stratigraphic columns. The stratigraphic columns present the basic units of time measured in correlation with the geological time scale. In a nutshell, time can be known from the depth of the rock on the ground.
- Jurassic or ¨The age of reptiles¨ (between 201,3 and 145.0 mA): the Jurassic period consists of three series, the lower, medium and upper jury. This temporary composition is immediately linked to the Startigraphic Study of this period.
- Cretaceous (between 145.0 and 66.0 ma): The end of this period corresponds to the disappearance of both dinosaurs and ammonites. The end of this area occurred due to the impact of an asteroid that crashed into the Earth. This meteorite crashing against the Earth would have generated large clouds of dust that the atmosphere would have veiled and radically lowered the temperatures of the earth to kill all living dinosaurs. This wide period is divided into two series called the lower Cretaceous and Cretaceous. These two series are divided into six plants each (twelve plants in total).
Mesozoic period
At first, the continents did not appear as we know them today, the entire earth previously formed a single block called Pangea. This was a supercontinent that existed in the late and Mesozoic Early Paleozoic periods. When the Triassic began, Pangea was divided into two blocks, Laurasia and Gondwana. These same two continents were further divided, Laurasia gave birth to North America and Eurasia, and Gondwana’s division allowed the birth of South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. This supercontinental fracture of the Pangea was the result of the movement of the tectonic plate due to the intense volcanic activity.
The current climate is no longer the one in the primary era. The fossil study shows that the surface of the earth was divided into three different climatic zones. The poles were marked with white iron snow, low vegetation and mountainous landscapes. There were more temperate areas with a richer fauna.
The Mesozoic period was marked by a severe carbon dioxide overload in the atmosphere. In fact, carbon dioxide in this period was five times stronger than we have today on Earth. This great presence of carbon dioxide required an extremely humid and warm climate. Thus, the vegetation became less lush and there was also a proliferation of cycades and conifers. Towards the end of the second era, the appearance of both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous angiosperms came.
Herbivorous dinosaurs of the Mesozoic era
The Brachiosour
Era and etymology
The name Brachiosaurus was considered by Elmer Samuel Riggs. It has its origin in the ancient Greek work Brachiôn (which means arm) and Saurus (lizard), also known as the ‘lizard arm’.
This dinosaur belonged to the Sarisquios Sauropod group, these dinosaurs wandered by our land from the end of the Jurassic era to the mid -Cretaceous period, about 161 to 145 million years ago! Brachiosaurus is a dinosaur star, which appears in films like Jurassic Park. Brachiosour is one of the greatest dinosaurs that ever existed.
Appearance and diet
Brachiosaurus measures no less than 26 meters long, 12 meters high and its estimated weight ranges between 32 and 50 tons. It had a very long neck, which was formed by 12 70 cm vertebrae! This long neck has given rise to heated discussions among many specialists, many argue that Brachiosaurus could not have maintained its long straight neck because, according to them, brachiosaurus was not strong enough to maintain such a heavy characteristic. In addition, its blood pressure had to be spectacular to be able to pump blood to the brain. The body of a brachiosaurus allowed him to balance his neck from right to left, from the bottom up, which allowed him to reach extremely high heights. Brachiosaurus, as already said, was a herbivorous dinosaur. This dinosaur is supposed to fed from the peaks of cycas, conifers and ferns. Brachiosaurus was a great devouring. So great that I had to ingest approximately 1500 kg of food per day! It was thought that brachiosaurs moved in small herds, which allowed adults to protect their young animals from large predators such as the therapods.
The Diplodocus
Era and etymology
In 1878, Othniel Charles Marsh appointed Diplodocus for the presence of his double beam chevron bones. These small bones allowed the formation of a long bone band at the bottom of the tail. In fact, his name Diplodocus is a Latin neologism derived from Greek, ‘diploos’ (which means double) and ‘dokos’ (which means beam). Since then, these small bones have been discovered in other dinosaurs.
Appearance and power supply
The diplodocus is a huge quadruped with a very long neck. This dinosaur is very easy to recognize by its long tail in the form of a whip. Its front legs were slightly shorter than their articulated legs, which gave it a horizontal posture. When seen from afar, it looks like a hanging bridge. It is estimated that its length is around 35 meters. His head is very small compared to the size of his body. This head carried a neck more than 6 meters long composed of at least fifteen vertebrae, we now estimate that its neck was kept parallel to the ground because it was actually unable to hold it higher. Diplodocuspea an estimate of between 10 and 16 tons, light compared to the heavy Brachiosaurus! Its immense tail was composed of 80 caudal vertebrae, counterweight its very long neck. Diplodocus fed only with grass, small shrubs and tree leaves.
The stegosaurus
Era and etymology
Etymologically ‘Stegosaurus’ means ‘Acoracado or reptile with ceiling’, it was Othniel Charles Marsh who named him in 1877. When Marsh discovered it, he thought that the dinosaur dorsal plates arranged horizontally formed a kind of small roof. Marsh also named Stegosaurus Armatus which means ‘reptile with armored roof’. The Stegosaurus lived about 155 million years ago in a land that we now know as the United States and Portugal.
Appearance and food
The Stegosaurus measured up to 9 meters long at a height of 4 meters and weighed around 3 tons! It is one of the most popular dinosaurs! It is very easily recognizable thanks to the two rows of bone plates located along its spine. Its tail had two pairs of defensive tips 60 centimeters long. It is believed that these plates functioned as a kind of radiator thermostat that heated to the sun and cooled with the wind. Stegosaurus had front legs that were smaller than their hind legs. This detail must have given an extremely strange posture, with your head closer to the ground than the tail. The stegosaurus had a kind of small beak that was armed with small teeth, located on the back of his mouth. This dinosaur also had bags on the cheeks, which led the experts to believe that he used his beak to cut grass and then stored in the cheeks bags before chewing.
The triceratops
Era and etymology
The term triceratops simply means ‘head with three horns’, it comes from the Greek ‘tri’ (three) ‘keras’ (horn) and ‘ops’ (face). Triceratops lived during the end of the Maastrichtian, during the upper Cretaceous, about 68 to 66 million years ago. This land is known today as North America. It has been said that this dinosaur was the main dam of Tyrannosaurus rex. His are some of the most found fossils in North America.
Appearance and food
It is believed that triceratops measures between 7 and 10 meters long with a height of 3.50 to 4 meters to the cross. This specimen would have weighed between 5 and 10 tons. The most striking characteristic of triceratops is its wide skull. In fact, he had one of the greatest skulls of all terrestrial animals that have ever lived (whatever we know) on earth. The triceratops skull reached almost a third of the total length of the animal! This dinosaur is also easily recognizable by the presence of its three horns with, one was placed on the snout and the other two distributed over each eye. Each of these horns measures approximately 1 meter long. His skin is also a fascinating theme, this is because many believe that, rare in a dinosaur, his skin was covered with hair
The protoceratops
Era and etymology
Etymologically Protoceratops means ‘First head with horns’. This first head with horns walked along our ground between 84 and 72 million years ago, in what we now know as Asia, specifically Mongolia and China. In 1971, an incredible fossil was found in Mongolia. This fossil was a velociraptor hugging a protoceratops. According to the assumptions, both would have died fighting and would have been buried by a sandstorm or by the collapse of a dune. This is one of the oldest dinosaurs with older horns that has been known and is probably an ancestor of others.
In 1922, an expedition to the Gobie desert discovered protoratops nests, the first dinosaur eggs never found! In one of the nests there were about thirty eggs, which led people to believe that this nest was shared by several females, who had to defend this nest of the predators. Several other nests were found near, which seems to indicate that these animals lived in family groups or perhaps in small herds. Once the eggs hatched, the offspring, which measure less than 30 centimeters, were fed and defended by mothers.
Appearance and food
The protoceratops did not have a well developed horn, it only had a small bone too large in its snout. He had a large physical head in a necklace that was used to protect his neck or to threaten his predators. It wasn’t the biggest dinosaur, but it was still 2 meters long and weighed 150 kg!
The Patagotitan Mayorum
Patagotitan Mayorum is a genus of titanosauridae sauropods that was recently discovered in Argentina in 2014.
Era and etymology
Patagotitan was recently discovered and is one of the least known dinosaurs. However, its full name is Patagotitan Mayorum. From an etymological point of view its name is composed of a reference to Patagonia that is the region of discovery (paw) and a reference to Greek mythology (titan) to evoke the power and size of this new dinosaur. Majorum pays tribute to the Mayo family, owner of the La Arrow and the lands where the discoveries were made. According to studies conducted by researchers, Patagotitan Majorum lived between 95 and 100 million years ago in what was then a forest region.
Appearance and food
Since only a Patagotitan Mayorum fossil was discovered, the figures we will mention are only estimates. Experts believe that he would have measured approximately 37 meters and that he would have weighed around 69 tons. His titan name was not given in vain … Patagotitan Mayor would be nothing more than the greatest and most massive being that has ever stepped on the floor of the planet. For now, it is known that it is a herbivore, however, there is still much more research to do.
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