What was the dinosaurs diet? In order to answer this question, one have to start by classifying dinosaurs into three groups,
and these groups are: herbivores (plant eaters), carnivores (meat eaters) and omnivores (ate both meat and plants).Here is a link to the complete list of all dinosaurs that have been recovered in the North America continent only. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_dinosaurs in this link there is a well developed list of almost all dinosaurs separated by age period and diet.
Herbivores- the two most famous dinosaurs in this category were the Sauropods and the Ankylosaurs. These dinosaurs had blunt teeth that are good for stripping vegetation such as leaves, twigs, etc. Some also had flat teeth for grinding tough plant fibers. Many herbivores have cheek pouches in which they can store food for a while. Herbivores usually have to eat more than the carnivores to compensate the same amount of calories, and in addition to that dinosaurs like the Sauropods were much larger in size in contrast to a Troodotids (just an example). Usually plant-eaters ate fibersplants, including ferns, cycads, horsetails, club mosses, seed ferns, conifers, and gingkos, abounded during the Mesozoic. Flowering plants evolved during the Cretaceous period.
Carnivores- Carnivorous dinosaurs were physically capable of run quickly thanks to their strong legs, in proportation their legs were much larger than their upper extremities. Moreover, carnivorous also had strong jaws, sharp teeth, and deadly claws so they could kill and then tear apart the prey. Good eyesight, a keen sense of smell, and a large brain to plan hunting strategies are also very important for successful hunting. By far the smartest of all dinosaurs, and the most dangerous as well. If dinosaurs were alive today, some would try to kill us, but people will outmart them....there would be some "casualties" though. ouch!
Omnivores- the most famous in this group are the Ornithomimus and Oviraptor, both plants and animals eaters. Actual Omnivores today are bears and ravens.
