Evolution: Mix-and-match adaptations in plant-eating dinosaurs

Ornithischian dinosaurs were primary consumers in Mesozoic ecosystems, their evolution intricately linked to challenges of a plant-heavy diet. Whether phenotypic similarities among different ornithischian lineages imply a common functional solution to herbivory is unclear. New research suggests that they evolved herbivory via multiple biomechanical pathways. Ornithischian dinosaurs were primary consumers in Mesozoic ecosystems, their evolution intricately linked to challenges of a plant-heavy diet. Whether phenotypic similarities among different ornithischian lineages imply a common functional solution to herbivory is unclear. New research suggests that they evolved herbivory via multiple biomechanical pathways.