How to Use herbivorous in a Sentence

herbivorous

adjective
  • Sauropods were a group of four-legged herbivorous dinosaurs known for their long necks and tails.
    — Natalie Demaree, Kansas City Star, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The Lystrosaurus was herbivorous, about the size of a pig, with small tusks and a kind of beak.
    — Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
  • Sauropods were massive, herbivorous dinosaurs known for their long necks and tails, four-legged build, and small heads.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Feb. 2025
  • The herbivorous species had long necks and tails and thick leg and were some of the largest dinosaurs to ever exist.
    — Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2022
  • It is consumed by herbivorous fish, which are then eaten by larger fish.
    — Sarah Burchard, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2021
  • Researchers can tell that this was an herbivorous, or plant-eating, species because of the shape of its teeth.
    — Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The dugong is a strictly herbivorous marine mammal – the only of its kind.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2022
  • In most communities, herbivorous dinosaurs came in a range of sizes.
    — Gretchen Vogel, Science | AAAS, 25 Feb. 2021
  • Its stomach was full of prehistoric leaves at the time of death, meaning the dinosaur had an herbivorous diet.
    — Mac Stone, Discover Magazine, 1 Feb. 2023
  • If there aren’t enough herbivorous fish off the Hawaiian coast due to overfishing, there’s nothing to keep the green stuff in check.
    — WIRED, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Many grasses evolved to be partly dispersed by herbivorous mammals, the seeds passing through guts with the bulky leafy tissue.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The researchers are confident that the remains are that of a sauropod, a group of herbivorous dinos that had long necks and walked on four legs.
    — Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 1 Sep. 2022
  • The herbivorous dinosaurs weigh hundreds of tons and migrate in earth-flattening herds; the carnosaurs that prey on them are outsize to match.
    — Tom Shippey, WSJ, 19 June 2020
  • In today’s landscapes, top predators such as wolves and lions are well outnumbered by their herbivorous prey.
    — Popular Science, 30 Apr. 2020
  • The ancient fossil belongs to a stegosaur, an herbivorous dinosaur with a tiny head and bony plates marching down its back, ending in a spiked tail.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Egan's lab specializes in studying herbivorous insects that feed on live oaks trees across the Gulf Coast.
    — Rebecca Hennes, Houston Chronicle, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Healthy coral reefs depend on herbivorous fish, which munch on the algae and sediment that would otherwise blanket the reefs.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2022
  • Pespeni and her team studied an herbivorous species of copepods, a population that grows with algal blooms.
    — Theresa Sullivan Barger, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Sea otters kept herbivorous sea urchins in check; without the predators, urchins overgrazed and wiped out the entire suite of kelp-dependent species.
    — Lesley Evans Ogden, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2024
  • The tortoises are mostly herbivorous and feed on grasses, fruits, and succulent plants.
    — National Geographic, 17 June 2016
  • Owen considered the animal might have been an insect-eater, breaking open termite nests like an anteater, but it is now known to have been herbivorous in its habits.
    — Smithsonian, 8 May 2018
  • While manatees are herbivorous and pose no threat to humans, other species in the Everglades are not so harmless.
    — Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2024
  • In coral reefs, for example, the presence of sharks alters how and where herbivorous fish feed, which in turn affects seaweed growth and habitat structure.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Overfishing by humans tends to reduce the number of big, herbivorous fish that would otherwise eat the algae and give the reef a chance at rebirth.
    — Jackson Landers, Smithsonian, 13 Jan. 2017
  • The tooth was obviously from some sort of herbivorous Cretaceous dinosaur, but what kind?
    — Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 19 June 2017
  • Mussaurus was a type of dinosaur called a sauropodomorph, which represented the first great success story among herbivorous dinosaurs.
    — Reuters, CNN, 22 Oct. 2021
  • Ankylosaurs were among the most successful herbivorous dinosaurs.
    — CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Unlike many of its meat-eating relatives, this creature may have been omnivorous or herbivorous.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 6 Mar. 2026
  • The newfound tracks hint that hatchlings formed groups after leaving the nest, similar to some herbivorous dinosaurs—as well as living crocodiles and large ground birds.
    — Riley Black, Scientific American, 23 Nov. 2022
  • If necessary, the herbivorous reptiles may have been able to feed on their floating vegetation mats, McGuire said.
    — Julianna Bragg, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herbivorous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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