Stories by Riley Black

An ancient braincase offers new insights into the origins of some of the ocean’s strangest fish

Rare fossils give away a big bird that lived in a much warmer Arctic.

A new study concludes that developing dinosaurs spent a long time inside their eggs

Paleontologists still don't know what these tiny fossils are

A fossil skull offers new insights in the early days of North America's horned dinosaurs

Famous fossil hunter E. D. Cope got into a fistfight over a matter of tarnished honor

Sea otters owe much of their adorable look to the way they eat

This strange prehistoric reptile swooped through Triassic skies

We're nowhere near Peak Dinosaur.

A new study on Didelphodon finds this Mesozoic mammal could have crunched a wide variety of foods

This dinosaur was one of the earliest members of a famous, earthshaking family

Extinction can be hard to track, even for celebrity species

Paleontologists provide a new look at a beautifully preserved fossil cephalopod

This strange marine reptile is represented by a truly exceptional skeleton

Giraffes have been long necks for much of their history

Ancient skulls hint at when today's spotted hyenas started to get smart.

This prehistoric fish boasted impressive fangs

Lions and hyenas have been antagonizing each other for thousands of years.

Stone tools and fossil feces place both humans and giant hyenas at a mammoth carcass in ice age Spain

This new dinosaur adds to the big picture of how the terrible lizards were faring at the end of the Cretaceous

Crushing jaws make spotted hyenas incredibly versatile carnivores

This unusual fossil pachyderm totally lacked upper tusks

A fossil skull from China represents one of the largerst saber-toothed carnivores of all time

This marine mammal's mouth was the perfect multi-tool for crunching shellfish