Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from Riley Black

Portrait of paleontologist Mary Anning and her trusty assistant, Tray.

These Paleo Pets Made Fossil Hunting Less Lonely

In the solitary hunt for bones, furry companions provide company, act as field assistants and sometimes even make the ultimate sacrifice

You'll never guess how researchers found this fossil of the petite terrestrial crocodile Hoplosuchus kayi.

These Are Some of the Weirdest Ways Paleontologists Find Fossils

Sometimes you pee on them, sometimes you’re just trying to get away from other paleontologists. Here are the discovery stories scientists won’t tell you

Pie chart showing the number of times ankylosaur fought a particular foe.

Sadly, “Ankylosaur Fight Club” Is Probably Wishful Thinking

Ornate armor may have had more to do with communication than combat

A reconstruction of Fruitachampsa, a Jurassic-era crocodile discovered in the Fruita Paleo Area and named in 2011. Small animals like Fruitachampsa help paleontologists reconstruct what life was really like in the Jurassic period.

In This Jurassic Boneyard, It’s Not Size That Counts

A rich cache of fossils in Colorado is valuable not for the big dino bones but the relatively tiny fossils that are still being dug up.

Little penguins are the only penguins now found in Australia.

Australia Used to be a Haven for Giant Penguins

A single species, the little penguin, is left on Aussie shores today

An artists' rendering of Machairoceratops cronusi, or "bent sword face." Machairoceratops was found in 77-million-year-old rock in southern Utah.

Two New Discoveries Add to a Horned Dino Revolution

Twenty years ago, there were about 23 horned dinosaurs. Today, the count has more than tripled

Atopodentatus used its odd-shaped head to vacuum up food from the sea floor hundreds of millions of years ago.

Weirdo Ancient Marine Reptile Had a Vacuum-Shaped Head

Animal probably slurped up plant material from the seafloor

Woolly mammoths were mixing it up with other mammoths in North America, new research shows.

North American Mammoths May Have Been a Single Species

Woolly mammoths and other varieties may have been intermingling, DNA analyses show

The footprints of ankylosaurs and other 122-million-year-old dinosaurs are preserved outside Moab, Utah.

Paleontologists Unveil Dinosaur Stomping Ground in Utah

Visitors can view ghostly footprints that record prehistoric steps in pale blue stone

T. rex had tiny arms. But that’s no reason to mock the dinosaur.

Stop Making Fun of Tyrannosaurs’ Tiny Arms

The stubby limbs may seem out of place, but they may have been key to the T. rex’s terrifying bite

When Dinosaurs Roamed the (Not Yet) Petrified Forest

Recent surprise discoveries at the national park have prompted a complete rethinking about the creatures of the Jurassic Era

An artist's rendering shows what a Tully Monster might have looked like 300 million years ago.

What Is a Tully Monster? Scientists Finally Think They Know

The oddball fossil that puzzled experts for almost 60 years is probably an ancient fish akin to today’s bloodsucking lampreys

A reconstruction of the horse-sized tyrannosaur Timurlengia euotica, named for the charismatic Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, shows the species' long, slender legs, large head and teeth built sharp like a steak knife.

The Discovery of a Tiny Tyrannosaur Adds New Insight Into the Origins of T. Rex

The horse-sized dino species had smarts and a keen sense of smell, setting the stage for the evolution of the enormous predator

The skeleton of a Steller's sea cow hangs in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

“Mermaid Ivory” Stirs Controversy Over How Extinct Species Are Studied

The carved bones of marine mammals highlight the squishy regulations around their trade and what that means for science

At 122 feet long, The Titanosaur has to poke its tiny head out of the entryway to fit in the exhibit hall.

Here’s How You Squeeze the Biggest Dinosaur Into a New York City Museum

A team of specialists had to get creative to mount a towering Titanosaur inside the American Museum of Natural History

A Hoplophoneus pseudo-cat skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Utah.

The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles

The region was once home to a plethora of catlike creatures called nimravids, and fossils show they were an especially fractious breed

The Verreaux's sifaka is one of the unique mammals found only on Madagascar.

Tiny Fossils Reveal the Rise of Mammals on Madagascar

Recent finds are helping paleontologists piece together what happened after dinosaurs vanished from the island

An illustration shows what Shonisaurus popularis might have looked like in the late Triassic.

What Killed These Marine Reptiles Found in a Nevada Ghost Town?

Paleontologists are going high tech to solve the mystery of a mass ichthyosaur death near the old mining town of Berlin

A gibbous moon shines over a large petrified log embedded in the sandstone at Blue Mesa in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park.

Protecting Arizona’s Petrified Forest Can Be as Easy as Taking a Hike

After dispelling myths about vandals and thieves, rangers are working to make this national park more open and engaging

"Baby Louie," formerly of the Indianapolis Children's Museum, is now back home, at the Henan Geological Museum.

Big Baby Dinosaur Finally Goes Home

An infant oviraptorosaur smuggled out of China decades ago comes back to Henan Province with new stories to tell

Page 11 of 61