The food available to the dinosaurs gradually evolved over the millions of years of the Mesozoic era, just like the dinosaurs themselves. Most of the dinosaurs ate plants. Fossil evidence of pollen and spores indicates that there were hundreds to thousands of different types of plants growing during the Mesozoic era, most with edible leaves. Some examples of possible dinosaur delicacies included ferns, mosses, horsetail rushes, cycads, ginkos, and evergreen conifers like pine trees and redwoods (grass had not yet evolved). Toward the end of the Mesozoic era, with the advent of flowering plants, fruits also became available.

For dinosaurs of the carnivorous persuasion, there was also a large selection of food choices in the Mesozoic “cafeteria.” These included the early mammals, eggs, turtles, and lizards that shared the landscape with the dinosaurs. Of course, there were also other dinosaurs to be hunted or scavenged.