It is known that there are herbivorous Dinosaurs, but do they really eat grass?

Herbivorous dinosaurs are the representative names for herbivorous dinosaurs. But in fact, scientists previously thought that the Earth did not have a plant called grass until the end of the Cretaceous period.
When introducing dinosaurs, paleontologists often divide them into two categories: carnivorous dinosaurs and herbivorous dinosaurs. In which herbivorous dinosaur is the name representing the plant-eating dinosaurs, not the literal herbivorous dinosaurs. Because in the past, scientists always thought that grass did not appear on Earth until the end of the Cretaceous period. So there will be no dinosaurs that eat grass.

But recently, paleontologists have had to change this view and push the herbivorous history of dinosaurs to the early Cretaceous period, 125 million years ago, grasses began to appear. This was discovered during the study of fossils of the dinosaur Equijubus found in China. Mount Mazong is located at the northern end of the Hexi Corridor, in present-day Gansu Province, China. The mountain is named because it looks like a horse’s mane blowing in the wind. Mazong Mountain is a desolate place, but beneath that gravel are the remains of creatures that died hundreds of millions of years ago. In 2000, paleontologists from China and the United States formed a joint expedition to unearth paleontological fossils in the Mazong mountain area. During this excavation, paleontologists discovered a large number of fossils. Chinese paleontologist You – Hailu studied the fossils of a new dinosaur species and he named this dinosaur Equijubus. The genus name is derived from the Latin words “equus” meaning “horse” and “juba” meaning “mane”, the genus name meaning “horse mane” because the fossil was found in Mount Mazong. The new species was given the full name Equijubus normani, with “Normani” being named in honor of the famous British paleontologist David B. Norman. Illustration. Equijubus can be considered an intermediate dinosaur between Iguanodon and Hasrosauridae. Equijubus has a fairly large body when compared to a “basic” Hasrosauridae, but they can still run on two legs after being chased by predators. Fossil specimens of this dinosaur include skulls, lower jaw bones, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae and other parts. Through fossil analysis, it can be seen that Equijubus belongs to the primitive Hadrosauridae, it already possesses some features of Hadrosauridae, but its skull also has obvious features of Iguanodon. Paleontologists surmise that the dinosaur Equijubus could be up to 7 m long, 2 m high and weigh 2.5 tons, almost the size of a small truck. Equijubus would have had a long head, a horn beak on the front of its mouth and flat teeth on the inside of its cheeks, allowing it to chew on hard plants. Equijubus also have a robust body, they often walk on all fours and run on two legs when fleeing predators. Although there are not many fossils of this species, the discovery of Equijubus has great significance for paleontology. As a very primitive Hadrosauridae, Equijubus has shown that the Hasrosauridae may have originated in Asia and that they evolved directly from Iguanodon. 14 years after the Equijubus species was named, paleontologists are once again studying their fossils using the latest technology. They found evidence of herbivorous dinosaurs actually eating grass in fossils! On December 21, 2017, You Hailu and other paleontologists published a research paper titled “Dinosaur-related cuticles and crystals from the Chinese Gramineae family of the Cretaceous Period” on National Science Journal of China. The paper mentioned that the microstructure of primitive herbaceous plants (herbs, rice) was silicified between the teeth of the dinosaur Equijubus. This suggests that herbaceous plants were originally the food of this dinosaur. In fact, to answer the question of whether or not herbivorous dinosaurs ate grass, we need to know that the grass family is a large family of plants with more than 650 genera. Rice, wheat, corn, millet, sorghum, etc… the plants that we cannot live without are all grasses, and many other plants that we can eat are also grasses. People have always doubted the existence of the grass family, and the time period of its appearance is also quite unclear. And in the past, scientists always thought that they appeared after dinosaurs. But through the discovery of secrets from the fossils of the dinosaur Equijubus, we have learned that grass appeared on Earth 125 million years ago. This means that on Earth, dinosaurs of that time also had herbivorous habits (literally eating grass). The earliest known seed-bearing plants can be traced back to the Middle Jurassic or earlier, 164 million years ago. It was discovered during the Boda Jurassic period in Inner Mongolia. Although this plant is only a few centimeters tall, it already has roots, stems, leaves, and fruits.