21 Facts About Darren Naish

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

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

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

Darren Naish 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.

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

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

Darren Naish 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.

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

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

In 2013, Darren Naish described Vectidraco daisymorrisae, a small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Isle of Wight.

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

Darren Naish's name is attached to several children's books on prehistoric animals.

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

Darren Naish appeared on a Channel 4 discussion programme on cryptozoology, presented by journalist Jon Ronson, during the late 1990s.

Darren Naish was a scientific advisor for Impossible Pictures, for the 2020 Netflix series Alien Worlds, and for the Apple TV+ series Prehistoric Planet.

Darren Naish has been featured in several stories about so-called mystery carcasses including the Montauk Monster, San Diego Demonoid, Beast of Exmoor, and a Russian mystery monster carcass.

Darren Naish emphasises the effects of taphonomy in making familiar animals unrecognisable.

In September 2022, Darren Naish spoke at the United Nations Science Summit 2022.

In 2006, Darren Naish started a weblog, Tetrapod Zoology, that covered various aspects of zoology.

Together with colleagues Michael P Taylor and Mathew Wedel, Naish contributes to the Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week blog.

In 2010, Darren Naish published a collection of early articles from Tetrapod Zoology as a book titled Tetrapod Zoology Book One.