Stories by Riley Black

A mysterious skeleton in Venice is a reminder how important it is to take good field notes

Our favorite carnivorous dinosaurs probably weren't as skilled at killing prey as we expect

New fossils reveal the grimace of a giant Jurassic crocodile

A tiny, amber-encased bird is a fossil treasure

Ancient DNA puts Darwin's mystery mammal in its place

A rare fossil from Colorado shakes up the amphibian family tree.

Despite recent headlines, there's still good reason to think T. rex was fluffy

A partial dinosaur skeleton from Montana is surprisingly small for its age

This weasel-like protomammal turned up in an unexpected place.

A new analysis sets the scene for how over 46 Allosaurus came to be buried in the same place

An unexpected tooth changes the story of one of the most famous dinosaur groups

This new, tiny dinosaur underscores questions about how its family came to be so diverse in ancient China

A new toothed whale highlights an important time in the evolution of today's ocean giants

Ancient DNA reshuffles the pachyderm family tree

The rock of China yields another beautiful dinosaur skeleton.

A rare fossil records a quiet moment of Jurassic time

Paleontologists re-create the footsteps of a fearsome Cretaceous carnivore

This new dinosaur bears a striking resemblance to the earliest birds.

A major reshuffling of dinosaur relationships may be afoot

A new find has paleontologists considering how the biggest dinosaurs coped with living large

An exceptional skeleton reveals a new dinosaur species.

A tooth from Petrified Forest represents an unknown species that has baffled paleontologists for decades

An overlooked fossil offers paleontologists a biogeographical surprise

This huge herbivore is the earliest brachiosaur yet found