Crocodile Tooth and Dinosaur Bone Among Discoveries from Ninth Palaeontological Expedition at Tran Dinosaur Site

A crocodile tooth and a dinosaur bone are among the discoveries made during the ninth palaeontological expedition of the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNHS-BAS) to the Tran dinosaur fossil site (Tran is a town in Western Bulgaria, District of Pernik). The expedition began on 27 July and will continue until 3 August, the museum said on July 30.

The scientific team is led by Associate Professor Dr Latinka Hristova of the National Museum of Natural History at BAS. The expedition also includes Associate Professor Dr Docho Dochev of Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski", Assistant Vladimir Nikolov of NMNHS-BAS, Professor Marlena Yaneva of the Geological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and two volunteer students.

The team said the first results of this year's fieldwork include several fragments of shell belonging to bothremydid side-necked turtles, a crocodile tooth, an incomplete and poorly preserved dinosaur bone, as well as several small bone fragments that cannot yet be identified taxonomically. The researchers expressed hope that better-preserved and more significant fossils would be uncovered during the remaining days of the expedition.

During the previous eight expeditions to the Tran fossil site, researchers discovered remains from at least nine groups of vertebrates, including two species of dinosaurs, two species of crocodiles, two species of turtles, and gars.

As part of the current expedition, the palaeontologists also visited a newly discovered Late Cretaceous vertebrate fossil site near Breznik. Until now, the area had been known primarily for fossils of ancient vegetation dating back around 75 million years. During the fieldwork, the specialists collected new fossil leaf specimens, the study of which is expected to provide information about the composition of the local flora and the climatic conditions at the end of the Late Cretaceous, the team said.

Photos: NMNHS-BAS

The ninth palaeontological expedition of the National Museum of Natural History at BAS is being carried out with financial support from Geograf BG's 2025 "T-shirt with a Cause" campaign and a private donation, the museum added.