Diet of prosauropod dinosaurs from the late Triassic and early Jurassic

Prosauropods were not scavenger-predators, rather they were the dominant large terrestrial herbivores during the late Triassic and early Jurassic. The herbivorous adaptations of anchisaurids include spatulate teeth with anteroposteriorly expanded crowns (maximum width apical to base of crown) which are obliquely inclined with respect to the jaws so each slightly overlaps the tooth behind it, and which have coarse marginal serrations at 45° to the cutting edges. Most of the teeth of yunnanosaurids lack serrations and resemble those of sauropod dinosaurs in form and in having self-sharpening surfaces, formed by tooth-to-tooth wear, which increased the efficiency of dealing with more resistant plant material. Anchisaurids and yunnanosaurids had a ventrally set jaw articulation; the teeth and skull of melanorosaurids are unknown. All prosauropods were high browsers that extended the feeding range with a long neck and tripodal feeding (long hindlimbs and stout tail for support). They used herding and the enormous claw on the pollex for defense, and probably had a muscular gastric mill with stones that was used for grinding the food. They account for at least 95% of the biomass in their respective faunas.