s . ▁They ▁probably ▁used ▁their ▁teeth ▁to ▁c rop ▁off ▁food , ▁without ▁che wing , ▁and ▁re lied ▁on ▁g ast rol ith s ▁( g izz ard ▁stones ) ▁to ▁break ▁down ▁t ough ▁plant ▁fib ers ▁( similar ▁to ▁modern ▁birds ). ▁Di pl od oc ines ▁have ▁highly ▁unusual ▁teeth ▁compared ▁to ▁other ▁sau rop ods . ▁The ▁crow ns ▁are ▁long ▁and ▁sl ender , ▁and ▁elli pt ical ▁in ▁cross - section , ▁while ▁the ▁a pe x ▁forms ▁a ▁bl unt , ▁tri angular ▁point . ▁The ▁most ▁prominent ▁wear ▁fac et ▁is ▁on ▁the ▁a pe x , ▁though ▁unlike ▁all ▁other ▁wear ▁patterns ▁observed ▁within ▁sau rop ods , ▁di pl od oc ine ▁wear ▁patterns ▁are ▁on ▁the ▁lab ial ▁( che ek ) ▁side ▁of ▁both ▁the ▁upper ▁and ▁lower ▁teeth . ▁This ▁implies ▁that ▁the ▁feed ing ▁mechanism ▁of ▁Di pl od ocus ▁and ▁other ▁di pl od oc ids ▁was ▁rad ically ▁different ▁from ▁that ▁of ▁other ▁sau rop ods . ▁Un il ater al ▁branch ▁stri pping ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁likely ▁feed ing ▁behavior ▁of ▁Di pl od ocus , ▁as ▁it ▁explains ▁the ▁unusual ▁wear ▁patterns ▁of ▁the ▁teeth ▁( coming ▁from ▁to oth – fo od ▁contact ). ▁In ▁un il ater al ▁branch ▁stri pping , ▁one ▁to oth ▁row ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁strip ▁fol i age ▁from ▁the ▁stem , ▁while ▁the ▁other ▁would ▁act ▁as ▁a ▁guide ▁and ▁stabil izer .