Istria coast yields world's first underwater dinosaur fossil discovery

An international team of paleontologists has discovered what is described as the world’s first underwater site containing dinosaur bones. Located in the Adriatic Sea near the coast of Istria, specifically in the Kolone bay near Bale, researchers are recovering fossils from depths between 1.5 and 6 meters.

The fossils, which date back approximately 130 million years to the Lower Cretaceous period, belong to a large long-necked dinosaur. Preliminary analyses indicate that the remains belong to a completely new, previously unknown species. The recovered specimens include parts of the cervical vertebrae, lumbar bones, and ribs, with some rib fragments measuring between three and four meters in length.

U.S. paleontologist Matthew C. Lamanna noted that this is the only known location in the world where dinosaur bones are embedded in the seabed rock. The discovery provides significant insight into the prehistoric geography of the region, which was positioned near North Africa during the era these creatures lived.