October the 14th, 2026 – An apparently brand new, previously unknown and uncategorised dinosaur species has been has been discovered in Croatia.
An incredible underwater dinosaur bone site has just been discovered in Croatia. An international team of scientists is currently extracting remains from the sea that are about 130 million years old, and according to the paleontologists’ initial assessments, the bones belong to a previously totally unknown species, HRT reports.
Poslovni reports that the fascinating remains found belong to a large, long-necked herbivorous dinosaur. Paleontologist Frano Vidaković compared it to a scene from the film Jurassic Park. “Do you remember that dinosaur from the beginning of Jurassic Park, when the paleontologists get out of the jeep in disbelief? Well, one like that – a long-necked dinosaur, large, with pillar-like legs, a long tail and neck, that fed on vegetation from the tops of trees,” Vidaković said.
American paleontologist Matthew Lamanna confirmed that this is an exceptionally important site. “The dinosaur we are excavating is without doubt a new species,” he emphasised. Scientists have so far found parts of the cervical spine, lumbar bones and ribs, and Lamanna explained how a fossilised bone differs from stone.
“To many this would look like a stone, but one detail tells us that this is a dinosaur bone. These are these small pores called trabeculae. They tell us that this is much more than a stone, that this is a dinosaur bone 130 million years old,” he explained.
croatia is home to a truly unique site
This is the only site in the world where dinosaur bones have been found in the sea, at depths of one and a half to six metres. Paleontologist and geologist Aleksandar Mezga highlights the uniqueness of the location. “This is the first such case in the world. People who have visited all the sites say they have never seen anything like this anywhere,” Mezga emphasised.
The site is located within the Datule-Barbariga paleontological reserve. 130 million years ago, the land that today forms Istria was part of a completely different landscape and was located roughly in the area of present-day North Africa. The first dinosaur bones in this area were discovered back in 1993, and completely by chance. Andrea Deklić from Natura Histrica recounted how it happened. “Mr Boscariolli was extracting date mussels here and breaking rocks to get to the shells. By chance, he came across a bone in the rock. Fortunately, his acquaintance was Fabio della Vecchia, a well-known Italian paleontologist,” Deklić said.
That is how Istria got its first dinosaur, named Histriosaurus Boscariollia. The newly discovered remains belong to a related but definitely different species. Scientists believe that the seabed near Bale hides more remains of Istrian dinosaurs that are still waiting to be discovered.
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