Scientists discover new dinosaur

The fossilised dinosaur bones were first discovered in 2001.

But it's taken palaeontologists seven years to identify what kind of dinosaur the bones belonged to.

The fragments, which include rib, vertebrae and - best of all - a nearly intact tibia were found in Argentina's southern Patagonia region - home to one of the best dinosaur excavation sites.

Argentinian paleontologist Fernando Novas said the remains belonged to a meat-eating dinosaur of up to six or seven meters in length that lived during the Cretaceous period some 70 million years ago.

The find makes it the southernmost carnivore discovered by researchers.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PALEONTOLOGIST FERNANDO NOVAS SAYING:

"The discovery we've made in Patagonia not only alters and improves our knowledge of dinosaurs in the southern hemisphere, but obviously it also alters knowledge on a global level."

Scientists call it Orkoraptor burkei.

"Orr Korr" means "toothed river" in the indigenous language Aoniken while the second part is a homily to amateur researcher and dinosaur enthusiast Coleman Burke, a wealthy New Yorker who funds paleontology excavations in Patagonia.

Helen Long, Reuters