Darren Naish

Darren William Naish (born 26 September 1975) is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author and science communicator.

As a researcher, he is best known for his work describing and reevaluating dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles, including Eotyrannus, Xenoposeidon, and azhdarchid pterosaurs.

Much of his research has focused on Wealden Group fossils from the Isle of Wight.

He is founder of the vertebrate palaeozoology blog Tetrapod Zoology, and has written several popular science books.

Naish also makes frequent media appearances and is a scientific consultant and advisor for film, television, museums and exhibitions.

Naish is also known for his scepticism and work examining cryptozoology and sea monster sightings and beliefs from a scientific perspective.

He obtained a geology degree at the University of Southampton and later studied vertebrate palaeontology under British palaeontologist David Martill at the University of Portsmouth, where he obtained both an M. Phil.

and PhD.

He published a series of articles on poorly known cetaceans during the 1990s and in 2004 published a review article on the giant New Zealand gecko Hoplodactylus delcourti.

Though initially beginning his research career in palaeontology with the intention of working on fossil marine reptiles, Naish became known for his doctoral work on the basal tyrannosauroid theropod Eotyrannus, a dinosaur that he, together with Steve Hutt and colleagues, named in 2001.

He has published articles on the Wealden Supergroup theropods Thecocoelurus, Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus.

With Martill and "Dino" Frey, he named a new illegally acquired Brazilian compsognathid theropod Mirischia.

In 2004, Naish and Gareth Dyke reinterpreted the controversial Romanian fossil Heptasteornis.

Suggested by other authors to be a giant owl, troodontid or dromaeosaurid, it was argued by Naish and Dyke to be an alvarezsaurid, and as such is the first member of this group to be reported from Europe.

Other fragmentary European alvarezsaurid specimens have since been reported.

Naish has also published work on sauropod dinosaurs, pterosaurs, fossil marine reptiles, turtles, marine mammals and other fossil vertebrates, and he has also produced articles on other aspects of zoology.

In 2004 Naish and colleagues described a giant Isle of Wight sauropod dinosaur that appears closely related to the North American brachiosaurid Sauroposeidon, and informally referred to as Angloposeidon.

In 2005 he coauthored the description of the new Cretaceous turtle Araripemys arturi, and in 2006 he and David Martill published a revision of the South American crested pterosaurs Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus.

Prior to the 2006 description of Turiasaurus from Spain, this was the largest dinosaur reported from Europe.

During 2007 and 2008, Naish and Martill published a major revision of British dinosaurs; Naish also published work with Barbara Sánchez-Hernández and Michael J. Benton on the vertebrate fossils of Galve in Spain.

The Galve fossils are significant in including istiodactylid pterosaurs, heterodontosaurids and spinosaurines.

In 2007, Naish co-authored the description of the new sauropod Xenoposeidon with fellow Portsmouth-based palaeontologist Mike P. Taylor.

In 2008 he published an evaluation of azhdarchid pterosaurs with Mark Witton, in which they argued that azhdarchids were stork- or ground hornbill-like generalists, foraging in diverse environments for small animals and carrion.

Along with his colleagues Mike Taylor and Matt Wedel he published a paper on sauropod neck posture in 2008.

In 2010 Naish published a paper on the theoretical flotation abilities of giraffes.

In 2010, he published The Great Dinosaur Discoveries as sole author.

In 2011 Hone, Naish and Cuthill published a paper on mutual selection in dinosaurs and pterosaurs In 2013, Naish described Vectidraco daisymorrisae, a small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Isle of Wight.

In 2012, he published All Yesterdays with John Conway and C. M. Kosemen.

It examines the palaeontological reconstruction of dinosaurs by applying the same method to living animal skeletons.

Also in 2013 Naish and Witton published a follow-up to their 2008 paper on terrestrial stalking in azhdarchid pterosaurs.

In 2015 Naish and colleagues published on a new, as-yet-unnamed, Transylvanian pterosaur taxon.

Naish has published several popular books on prehistoric animals including Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved co-authored with Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum 2016) Dinosaur Record Breakers (Carlton Kids 2018), the Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life (2003, with David Lambert and Elizabeth Wyse), the Palaeontological Association book Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight (2001, with David Martill) and the highly acclaimed BBC Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence (2000, with David Martill), produced to accompany the TV series Walking with Dinosaurs.

In 2017, a new species of pycnodont fish, Scalacurvichthys naishi, was named after Naish.

In 2017 Naish published Evolution in Minutes a book answering fundamental questions on the topic of evolution through a collection of mini-essays.

In 2021, he published Dinopedia, a book covering a variety of topics ranging from general concepts of dinosaur anatomy, groups of dinosaurs, significant people, locations, etc.

Naish has also published several books on cryptozoology, including Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths and Cryptozoologicon: Volume I with John Conway and C. M. Kosemen.

His name is also attached to several children's books on prehistoric animals.

Naish is an associate editor for the journal Cretaceous Research and was also on the editorial board of the journal The Cryptozoology Review.

He acts as a regular book reviewer for the Palaeontological Association.

Naish has appeared widely on British television, having featured on BBC News 24, Channel 4's Sunday Brunch, Richard & Judy, and Live from Dinosaur Island, as well as the documentary How to build a dinosaur.