The novel “Bones of the Earth” by Michael Swanwick was published for the first time in 2002.

Richard Leyster is a paleontologist who works for the Smithsonian Institution, where he deals in particular with dinosaurs. One day a Mr. Griffin offers him a job that requires absolute secrecy warning that there’s a risk of violent death. He provides no details but leaves a box and, after he’s gone, Leyster opens it and finds a real Stegosaurus head.

Leyster discovers that time travel is possible but only thanks to the fact that someone has provided the ability to perform it to humans. However, the exploitation of this possibility is subject to precise rules, which still allow scientific expeditions in the Mesozoic. The dangers, as well as fierce dinosaurs, come from a group of creationist terrorists who want to stop time travel at all costs.