Award-Winning Science Writing
Welcome! Here you'll find details about Riley Black’s books, her latest articles, and where to see her enthusing about paleontology. Dig in!
Mosasaurs venturing into freshwater would have found abundant food. Credit: Christopher DiPiazza
A large tooth indicates that big mosasaurs, over 30 feet in length, swam the same rivers where dinosaurs like T. rex and Triceratops drank.
Read MoreThe claws of Megachelicerax give away its relationship to spiders, horseshoe crabs, and other chelicerates. Credit: Masato Hattori
Paleontologists have uncovered the oldest known relative of spiders and horseshoe crabs, Megachelicerax, rewriting the story of how claws came out of the water.
Read MoreA small patch of sauropod skin suggests long-necked dinosaurs were surprisingly colorful. Art by Tess Gallagher.
Patches of fossilized dinosaur skin contain long-sought clues to the coloration of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs.
Read MoreThe toothed bird Gorgonavis socializing in Early Cretaceous Spain. Art by Roc Olivé.
A resin-encased skull has revealed an unexpectedly snouty fossil bird - a bird with teeth.
Read MoreBrachiosaurus was among the largest of the Morrison Formation sauropods, including at Dry Mesa.
Long-necked herbivores were titans of the Jurassic, but their offspring fed many carnivorous mouths.
Read More“The Bite” by artist Jen Hall
A mystery tooth embedded in a dinosaur skull uncovers a surprising T. rex hunting strategy.
Read MoreAbsolutely adorable, Tyrannoroter was one of the first herbivores on land. Art by Hannah Fredd.
A fossil skull found in an ancient tree has revealed a football-sized herbivore that was one of the first land-dwelling vertebrates to eat plants.
Read MoreThe prehistoric sawshark Pochitaserra patriciacanalae (above) and the ray Dasyatis manuelcamposi (below). Credit: Carlos Espinosa Bustos
Tiny teeth found in Chile inspired paleontologists to name an ancient shark after manga and anime’s Chainsaw Man. RZZZ.
Read MoreNot only is Spicomellus the oldest known ankylosaur, but it’s one of the spikiest. Credit: Matthew Dempsey
The extremely-spiky dinosaur Spicomellus is a reminder that the fossil record is full of surprises.
Read MoreKostensuchus was a large carnivorous croc, estimated at about 12 feet in length. Art by Gabriel Diaz Yanten.
A gorgeous skeleton found in Argentina reveals a predatory crocodile from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs.
Read MoreBenggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis takes a stroll along a Triassic coastline. Credit: Jorge Gonzalez.
Bones found in Nevada puzzled paleontologists. The remains represent a prehistoric crocodile cousin that walked on two feet and was washed out to sea around 245 million years ago.
Read MoreThe most complete fossil of Gaiasia jennyae yet found, an early tetrapod found in the 280 million-year-old rocks of Namibia. Credit: C. Mariscano
Fossils of an enormous, salamander-like creature reveal an unexpected evolutionary twist.
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