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,[1] Xenoposeidon,[2][3][4] and azhdarchid pterosaurs.

[7][8][9] He is founder of the vertebrate palaeozoology blog Tetrapod Zoology, and has written several popular science books.

Naish also makes frequent media appearances[10][11] and is a scientific consultant and advisor for film, television, museums and exhibitions.

[12][13] Naish is also known for his scepticism and work examining cryptozoology and sea monster sightings and beliefs from a scientific perspective.

With Martill and "Dino" Frey,[7][9] he named a new illegally acquired Brazilian compsognathid theropod Mirischia.

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.

[20] 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,[22] and in 2006 he and David Martill published a revision of the South American crested pterosaurs Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus.

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

[48] He appeared on a Channel 4 discussion programme on cryptozoology, presented by journalist Jon Ronson,[49] during the late 1990s.

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