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. 

A mount of Cetiosaurus at the New Walk Museum in Leicester. While the neck of this sauropod is almost completely known, no skull has ever been described.

C is for Cetiosaurus

Sauropods are iconic dinosaurs, but the first of their kind ever found was initially thought to be a huge crocodile

Part of a multi-step sequence by which Tyrannosaurus could have beheaded Triceratops, based on research by Fowler et al.

Did Tyrannosaurus Ever Battle Triceratops?

We love to imagine Tyrannosaurus fighting Triceratops to the death, but did such battles ever happen?

Not only was Ornithomimus feathered, but the dinosaur’s fluffy coat changed as it aged.

Feathery Ostrich Mimics Enfluffle the Dinosaur Family Tree

A trio of feathered dinosaurs tests a longstanding hypothesis and hint that there may be more feathered dinosaur fossils than anyone ever expected

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Reviving Heterodontosaurus

Paleontologists have known about Heterodontosaurus for decades, but a new restoration of the dinosaur shows just how freaky it was

A reconstruction of Acrocanthosaurus at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, North Carolina, where this year’s SVP reception was held.

Dinosaurs Rule at SVP

This year's SVP conference in Raleigh, North Carolina showcased a wealth of new dinosaur science

The peculiar, high-spined specimen that represents Becklespinax (left), and two possible restorations of the dinosaur by Darren Naish (right).

B is for Becklespinax

For over a century and a half, paleontologists have been confounded by the sail-backed carnivore Becklespinax. What did this dinosaur really look like?

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Tarbosaurus the Tip of the Black Market Iceberg

Earlier this week, federal officials arrested a man charged with selling numerous illegal dinosaur specimens

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Dinosaur Stampede, the Musical

What caused Australia's dinosaur stampede? A short musical performance suggests an answer

A reconstruction of Patagonykus, one of South America’s alvarezsaurs.

Did Dinosaurs Eat Ants?

The weird alvarezsaurs look perfectly-adapted to eating termites, but how can we find out what they really ate?

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The Saddest Dinosaur Cartoon Ever

Mountain of Dinosaurs, from 1967, uses extinction as a metaphor for Soviet oppression

A skeletal reconstruction of Agujaceratops

A is for Agujaceratops

Though little-known to the public, Agujaceratops plays an important role in tracing one particular episode in dinosaur evolution

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Jurassic Park 4′s Discharged Dinosaur Soldiers

Some scrapped Jurassic Park 4 designs show the movie's insane ideas for dinosaur soldiers

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The Bat-Winged Dinosaur That Never Was

Just when naturalists began to suspect that birds might be dinosaurs, one researcher put forward a truly strange idea of what early bird ancestors would have looked like

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Doing the T. rex Stretch

Did T. rex use its tiny arms to do push-ups?

A second specimen of the troodontid Mei, preserved in a bird-like sleeping position.

How Did Dinosaurs Sleep?

A lovely little fossil shows how some dinosaurs said goodnight

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The Fall of Domino Dinosaurs

A delicately-balanced domino setup replays the end of the Age of Dinosaurs

A headless Haplocanthosaurus, laid out at the Utah Field House of Natural History.

Haplocanthosaurus–A Morrison Mystery

Without a skull, determining the dinosaur's relationships is difficult

Thomas the T. rex, a lovely reconstruction at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Long Live the King

Paleontologists have named scores of dinosaurs, but why is T. rex our favorite?

Dilophosaurus, in a restoration based on an impression found at St. George, Utah. Art by Heather Kyoht Luterman

Dilophosaurus – An Early Jurassic Icon

Tracks made by a 20-foot predatory dinosaur have been found in rock from Connecticut to Arizona, but who made the tracks?

Recyclosaurus rex, seen outside the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida.

Dinosaur Sighting: Recyclosaurus

A reader shows us a snapshot of a spare-parts dinosaur

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