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I’m Dani Navarro, a paleoartist and scientific illustrator specializing in prehistoric life reconstruction for museums, publishing, science communication, and cultural projects. My work has contributed to scientific research and publications alongside researchers such as Paul Sereno, and has been featured in outlets including National Geographic, Science, and major international media.​

My work combines scientific rigor with artistic experience, with a background in video games, product and toy design, graphic design, marketing, and audiovisual media. Each illustration is based on the latest paleontological research and translated into clear, engaging imagery for a broad audience without sacrificing scientific accuracy.

My paleoart offers multiple levels of reading: an immediate visual impact, and a deeper layer built on anatomical micro-details, textures, behavior, and environmental context. I approach scientific illustration as a discipline committed to the highest possible level of precision.

I work primarily in digital illustration with a manual, artisanal approach, and also create 3D reconstructions based on fossil data and 3D scans, producing accurate visualizations of extinct animals.

Scientific Reconstruction Process

An inside look at how fossil evidence becomes life

SCIENTIFIC PAPER
Reconstructions and illustrations for:

​- Scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species from the Sahara caps stepwise spinosaurid radiation.
Paul C. Sereno, Daniel Vidal, Nathan P. Myhrvold, Evan Johnson-Ransom, María Ciudad Real, Stephanie L. Baumgart, Noelia Sánchez Fontela, Todd L. Green, Evan T. Saitta, Boubé Adamou, Lauren L. Bop, Tyler M. Keillor, Erin C. Fitzgerald, Didier B. Dutheil, Robert A. S. Laroche, Alexandre V. Demers-Potvin, Álvaro Simarro, Francesc Gascó-Lluna, Ana Lázaro, Arturo Gamonal, Charles V. Beightol, Vincent Reneleau, Rachel Vautrin, Filippo Bertozzo, Alejandro Granados, Grace Kinney-Broderick, Jordan C. Mallon, Rafael M. Lindoso, Jahandar Ramezani
 

- Diving dinosaurs? Caveats on the use of bone compactness and pFDA for inferring lifestyle .
Nathan P. Myhrvold, Stephanie L. Baumgart, Daniel Vidal, Frank E. Fish, Donald M. Henderson, Evan T. Saitta, Paul C. Sereno

 
- Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template “mummification” .
Paul C. Sereno, Evan T. Saitta, Daniel Vidal, Nathan Myhrvold , María Ciudad Real , Stephanie L. Baumgart , Lauren L. Bop  , Tyler M. Keillor , Marcus Eriksen , and Kraig Derstler



 

Museum Projects & Exhibitions

Selected works installed in museum environments, including interpretive panels, reconstructions, and exhibition visuals.

Fossil Lab The University of Chicago.jpg

Fossil Lab

The University of Chicago

chicago childrens museum.webp

Chicago children's Museum

El Paleontològic - Museo de Colecciones Naturales de Valencia.png

El Paleontològic MCN

de Valencia

Fundación para el estudio de los Dinosaurios en Castilla y León.png

Fundación para el estudio de los Dinosaurios en Castilla y León

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Laboratorio Paleontológico de Loarre.

EDITORIAL PROJECTS
National Geographic, Science magazine, Nat Geo Kids,  Prehistoric Times, The New York Times ...

My covers like National Geographic cover, Science Magazine cover, and other books and magazines about paleontology and science

PRODUCTS 

My products and artwork for puzzles, board games, trading card games, etc. My work on Ecologies Ancient Areas and MYA trading cards, and the Saurus Isle of Evolution board game

Clients

National Geographic client of Dani Navarro paleoart
Fossil Lab University Chicago  client of Dani Navarro
Acciona client of Dani Navarro
El Paleontologic de Valencia client of Dani Navarro
Fundación para el estudio de los dinosaurios en Castilla y León, client of Dani Navarro
Laboratorio Paleontologico de Loarre, client of Dani Navarro
Museo de Ciencias Naturales Universidad de Zaragoza, client of Dani Navarro
MYA trading cards, client of Dani Navarro
Montrose Biology client of Dani Navarro
Envision Games client of Dani Navarro
Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine-Cherokee Nation
McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Award-winning works

Honors-Awards​

  • 1st prize. XIII International Competition of Scientific Illustrations of Dinosaurs 2021 - Fundación Dinosaurios CyL

  • "Tierra de dinosaurios" prize. XIII International Competition of Scientific Illustrations of Dinosaurs 2021 - Fundación Dinosaurios CyL

  • 1st prize X International Dinosaur Illustration contest ( X CIID 2022 ) Museu da Lourinha, Dino Parque Lourinha

  • 2nd Prize Palaeontological Virtual Congress Palaeoart Contest 2023

  • Special Mention Palaeontological Virtual Congress Palaeoart Contest 2023​

Other Awards​
- Best indie Game Fun&Serious 2015
- 2 awards, Indie Developer Burger Awards 2015
- 6 Gamelab Awards 2015
- Best ABSOLUTE GAME, Best PC GAME, best DESIGN, best GRAPHICS Devuego 2015
- Winner "the best artistic design" Granada Gaming 2014

Press & Publications / In the Media

- BBC Science Focus — "An 'astonishingly' large new dinosaur species has been discovered in the Sahara" Photo credit: Dani Navarro · February 2026 

- CNN — "'Hell heron': The first new Spinosaurus species identified in over a century" Illustration: Dani Navarro · February/March 2026 

- Live Science — "95 million-year-old Spinosaurus had a scimitar-shaped head crest" Artwork by Dani Navarro · February 2026 

- EurekAlert! / AAAS — "New scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species discovered in the central Sahara" Art by Dani Navarro · February 2026 

- Phys.org — "New scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species discovered in the central Sahara" Illustration: Dani Navarro · February 2026 

- EarthSky — "Spectacular new Spinosaurus found in Niger, Africa" Image via Dani Navarro / University of Chicago · February 2026 

- ScienceDaily — "A giant blade-crested spinosaurus, the 'hell heron,' discovered in the Sahara" Credit: Dani Navarro · February 2026 

- The Conversation — "Paleontologists uncover a new Spinosaurus species by following a clue from a decades-old book into the Sahara Desert"· March 2026 

- University of Chicago — Biological Sciences "New scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species discovered in the central Sahara" "Sereno worked with paleoartist Dani Navarro in Madrid to create an action scene..." 

- Natural History Museum (Londres) — "New sabre-crested Spinosaurus species named from desert dinosaur fossils" © Dani Navarro / University of Chicago

- La Jornada (México) — "Spinosaurus mirabilis: la nueva especie que pudo ser una 'garza infernal'"

- The Conversation — "Paleontologists uncover a new Spinosaurus species by following a clue from a decades-old book into the Sahara Desert"  febrero/marzo 2026 🔗

- Science.org "FLESH RENDERING AND LAYOUT BY DANI NAVARRO" 

- NPR — "Dinosaur mummy mystery was solved with clues, analysis, and a Wyoming rancher" Artwork courtesy of Dani Navarro · November 2025 

- CNN — "66 million-year-old dinosaur 'mummy' skin was actually a clay mask" Artwork by Dani Navarro · October 2025 

- Smithsonian Magazine — "Scientists Finally Know What This 'Mummified' Dinosaur Looked Like" Dani Navarro · October 2025 

- National Geographic — "Here's how dinosaur 'mummies' are helping scientists solve fossil mysteries" Video artwork by Dani Navarro · October 2025 

- ScienceDaily — "Dinosaur mummy found with hooves and a hidden crest" Credit: Dani Navarro · October 2025 

- EurekAlert! / AAAS — "Dinosaur 'mummies' unlock secrets of life appearance" Artwork by Dani Navarro · October 2025 

- La Brújula Verde (medio español) — "Hallan un Edmontosaurus momificado de hace 66 millones de años" Crédito: Dani Navarro/UChicago Fossil  -Lab · Octubre 2025 

​- Sci.News — "Two New Specimens of Edmontosaurus annectens Preserve Fine Details of Scales and Hooves" "Life reconstruction of Edmontosaurus annectens. Image credit: Dani Navarro" 

- Paul Sereno Official Site (Universidad de Chicago)

- La Brújula Verde  — "Hallan un Edmontosaurus momificado de hace 66 millones de años" "Crédito: Dani Navarro/UChicago Fossil Lab" 

- EurekAlert! / AAAS — "Diving dinosaurs? Certain methods may be unsuitable for inferring dino lifestyles" "Painting by Daniel Navarro. Credit: Daniel Navarro, CC-BY 4.0" Publicado en PLOS ONE, marzo 2024 🔗

- Phys.org — "New analysis uncovers major issues with earlier suggestions that Spinosaurus pursued prey underwater" "Credit: Daniel Navarro" 

- Sci.News — "Paleontologists Find Flaws in Research Supporting Aquatic Pursuit Hunting in Spinosaurus" "Image credit: Daniel Navarro" 

- PLOS ONE (paper oficial) — Myhrvold, Baumgart, Vidal, Fish, Henderson, Saitta, Sereno (2024) "Diving dinosaurs? Caveats on the use of bone compactness and pFDA for inferring lifestyle" Ilustración: Daniel Navarro (licencia CC-BY 4.0 

Fundación para el Estudio de los Dinosaurios en Castilla y León — XIII Concurso Internacional de Ilustraciones Científicas de Dinosaurios 2021 Nota oficial: "el barcelonés Daniel Navarro Guerrero ha logrado el primer premio" 

© Daniel Navarro. Queda prohibido el uso de cualquier material de esta web para usos comerciales.

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