Riley Black

Riley Black

 

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications. 

Steppe mammoths evolved shaggy coats over a million years ago, a trait inherited by woolly mammoths.

Oldest DNA Sequenced Yet Comes From Million-Year-Old Mammoths

Genetic material from three ancient molars reveals secrets of about how the Ice Age elephants evolved

Published in Scientific Reports, the new study by astronomers Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, propose that a series of break-ups and chance events sent the huge chunk of space rock our way.

Astrophysicists Chart Source of Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs

A new model explains a possible route for the extraterrestrial rock before it blasted Earth

Zebrafish are classic study animals for understanding genetics and development.

A Single Altered Gene Can Make Fish Fins More Like Limbs

Researchers find a mutation that offers clues to the ancient sea-to-land transition of vertebrates

The fossil of Aphelicophontes danjuddi, a new genus and species of assassin bug, accompanied by the fossil of a small beetle

Ancient Insect Genitals Found in 50-Million-Year-Old Fossil

A newly discovered assassin bug features a well-preserved phallus the size of a grain of rice

Centrosaurus had the first well-documented case of malignant bone cancer in a non-avian dinosaur.

The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2020

Paleontologists uncovered a great deal about the “terrible lizards” this year

Lost Animals: Extinct, Endangered and Rediscovered Species by John Whitfield is just out from Smithsonian Books.

Ten Exquisite Creatures That Once Roamed the Earth

From Smithsonian Books, comes a magnificent tome to highlight evolution's greatest hits

Dinosaurs found in Alaska's Prince Creek formation likely remained in the region when it snowed during the winter.

How Dinosaurs Thrived in the Snow

Discoveries made in the past decades help show how many species coped with cold temperatures near both poles

An extinct group of lizardlike amphibians known as albanerpetontids boasts the earliest example of a slingshot-style tongue. This CT scan shows an exquisitely preserved 99-million-year-old albanerpetontid skull with its long, specialized tongue.

Scientists Find the World's Oldest Chameleon-Like Tongue Preserved in Amber

A skull and soft tissue perfectly kept in resin show that an ancient amphibian had a tongue that was both fast and extendable

A pelagornithid, likely the largest flying bird that ever lived, soared over the open ocean.

Scientists Reveal What May Be the Largest Flying Bird Ever

Researchers from California and China identified the 50-million-year-old bone of a giant bird that lived in Antarctica

The skeleton of a T. rex known as "Stan" is displayed in a gallery at Christie’s auction house in September in New York City.

A T. Rex Sold for $31.8 Million, and Paleontologists Are Worried

The auction of a famous specimen named "Stan" is likely to raise tensions between scientists, land owners and commercial fossil dealers

A female megalodon model, based on a set of teeth discovered in the Bone Valley Formation in Florida, hangs in The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

How Cannibalism in the Womb May Have Made Megalodon a Titanic Terror

A new analysis of shark body size offers clues as to why the 50-foot-long prehistoric shark grew so large

A great spotted woodpecker eats a hazelnut. Bird beaks may have allowed the animals to eat seeds and nuts after an asteroid hit the earth, wiping out many forms of life.

Why Birds Survived, and Dinosaurs Went Extinct, After an Asteroid Hit Earth

Paleontologists think that beaks may have given birds an advantage over other creatures

Knowing that the birds do some extracurricular exploration when they reach their breeding grounds means scientists may need to expand the range of future studies.

High-Tech Tracking Reveals 'Whole New Secret World of Birds'

A study of Kirtland’s warblers found that some continue exploring long distances even after they reach their breeding grounds

Kate Winslet plays Mary Anning in 'Ammonite'

'Ammonite' Is Historical Fan Fiction About the World's First Great Fossil Hunter

A new trailer previews the period drama featuring Kate Winslet as pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning

A Centrosaurus skeleton in the mass dearth assemblage at the Royal Tyrrell Museum

Dinosaurs Suffered From Cancer, Too

A bone containing signs of cancer is the first of its kind found in the fossil record

Baby sauropod on a nest, taken at the American Museum of Natural History's World's Largest Dinosaurs exhibit.

How Dinosaurs Raised Their Young

New research into eggshells and nesting sites help paleontologists unravel the family lives of the Mesozoic

Artist's impression of Utahraptor

The Continuously Evolving Picture of the World's Largest Raptor

Utahraptor is an official state dinosaur and an NBA mascot's inspiration. Understanding it has been anything but simple

Artist impression of Allosaurus

Carnivorous Dinosaurs Like Allosaurus Were Cannibals

Tooth-marked bones show that huge flesh-eaters had no qualms about chomping their own kind when times got tough

A new study from scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center analyzed about 35,000 bone and shell fragments from the Maya city of Ceibal.

Bones Tell the Tale of a Maya Settlement

A new study tracks how the ancient civilization used animals for food, ritual purposes and even as curiosities

Herrerasaurus skeleton replica at a special exhibition of the Naturmuseum Senckenberg

The Rise of Meat-Eating Dinosaurs Is More Complicated Than We Thought

Paleontologists are searching for how carnivorous dinosaurs went from pipsqueaks to titans

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