The Dinosaur Serengeti

[dbensen <dbensen@gotnet.net>]

    I was watching a nature show on Discover earlier today and it got me
think about dinosaurs (I meen, what dosn't?)
There must have been something similar to the african savanna in
Mesozoic times.  Probably, it was much more spectacular, given the
greater diversity of megafauna in the Mesozoic over extant megafauna.
To do reconstructions of dinosaurs, it is often expediant to use living
counterparts as models, SO:
    I know there wasn't grass(and therefor, no savanna) untill. . .when?

    Was there some sort of small gymnosperm that had the same ecological
role as grass?
    (About sauropods) How might an eocsystem support suge a large number
of very large animals?
    (as I watch cheetah's waking up) how would dinosaurs stretch?
I know these are sort of difficult questions, but the answers _may_ be
out there.

Thanks,
Dan