How did slow-moving dinosaurs protect themselves?

                     Plant-eating dinosaurs had three ways to escape from fierce predators. First, a plant-eater might simply be too big to be brought down and eaten, for example the sauropods. Second, a plant-eater might run away very fast, like many of the bird-like dinosaurs. Finally, a slow-moving dinosaur may have been covered with spikes and horns to help deter potential attackers.

                   Triceratops and its relatives had long horns and bony shields over its head and shoulders. Some dinosaurs developed a hard jointed skeleton as a defence, rather like modern armadillos. Often the bony plates covering the dinosaur’s back were interlocking, making it difficult for a predator to reach the soft flesh. Many of the ankylosaurs had long spikes on their body, providing extra defences.

Did dinosaurs need to guard their young?

                   The meat-eating dinosaur Velociraptor, which featured in the film Jurassic Park, fed on small dinosaurs. A Velociraptor skeleton has been found entangled with the remains of a Protoceratops. Both animals had died in a struggle over the eggs and young of the Protoceratops. Another dinosaur called Oviraptor fed on dinosaur eggs, which it cracked with a powerful beak. It also used two sharp bones inside its mouth to crack the tough eggshells. Although many plant-eating dinosaurs had nests and looked after their young, nothing is known about the breeding habits of the giant sauropod dinosaurs, or the meat-eaters.

Picture credit: google