Waren die sauropoden Dinosaurier Pflanzenfresser ? 497 
„It [nämlich die Chara-Species] could be easily gathered into the 
mouth as the reptile swam or crawled lazily about or rested itself 
and retracted and extended its long neck. The long and highly 
vaulted palate would have permitted a considerable mass to be 
collected, out of which, by pressure of the toengue, the superfluous 
water might have been squeezed between the spaced teeth. In 
addition to various algae there were probably other floating plants“. 
Von Hvenxe (1907—1908, p. 406) sagt von den Sauropoden: „Die 
ältesten Vertreter sind nur relativ wenig veränderte Plateosauriden, 
die zu einer anderen, wohl größtenteils vegetabilischen Ernährung, 
jedoch ohne richtiges Kauen, übergegangen sind. Wahrscheinlich 
nährten sie sich von weichen Wasser- und Sumpfpflanzen, vielleicht 
auch von kleinen Wassertierchen.“ 
Ager (1909, p. 119; 121—122) schließt sich ganz an Hay 
(1908) an. 
Die neuste, mir bekannte Betrachtung über diesen Gegenstand 
rührt von Luz (1910, p. 6) her, den ich hier ziemlich ausführlich 
zitieren möchte: „During the Triassic, the carnivores“ [d. h. die 
Theropoden]| „had spread to other conditions and had given rise to 
a new order, the Sauropoda, no longer truly terrestrial, but inhabiting 
the bayous and swamps of the numerous deltas which fringed the 
continental shores. This change of habitat was far-reaching in its 
effects, for rapid locomotion was no longer necessary and a certain 
degeneracy resulted. .... Increase in size was accompanied by an 
eloneation of the neck to get a greater range of feeding with as 
little bodily movement as possible and it necessitated as well a 
diametric change in diet, for with increasing bulk, no longer finding 
the animal food of their forbears adequate or readily obtainable, 
they took to an herbivorous feeding habit which required but little 
change in the mouth armament. 
„The modern Iguanidae show a certain parallelism with the 
Sauropoda, for while the primitive diet is carnivorous (insectivorous) 
some of the most striking forms are herbivorous, e. g. /Iguana, Am- 
blyrhynchus, and Basiliscus (sapow, 1901, p. 528, 533). Moreover, 
one finds within the family not only semi-aquatic adaptation, but 
even semi-marine. The last is shown by Amöblyrhynchus eristatus, 
which inhabits the rocky and sandy strips of coast of most of the 
Galapagos Islands, feeding on certain kinds of algae, which it has 
to dive for, since these plants grow below tide-marks“. Lurz sagt 
dann, daß „the precise food of the Sauropoda is a matter of doubt“ 
