A new carnivorous dinosaur has been discovered in South Wales between some rocks of a cliff,  which is also considered as the oldest dinosaur to be uncovered from the Jurassic period in the United Kingdom.

This new dinosaur is known as the Dracoraptor or Dracoraptor hanigani, which dates back to 200 million years. According to lead author of the study, David Martill from the University of Portsmouth, these dinosaur remains in Wales are extremely rare, making this a crucial discovery. 

Scientists now believe that Wales could have been rich in dinosaur activity however, the team suspects that the reason why Jurassic dinosaurs have not been uncovered before in the country is due to lack of preservation.

Since the national symbol of Wales is a dragon, the team regards "Dracoraptor" as an apt name, reflecting the nation's pride over this important scientific find. Dracoraptor also means, "dragon rober".

These fossilized remains were found on a site known as Lavernock Point, where researchers believe that Draco was a very capable and agile hunter, living near the shoreline. During the early Jurassic era, South Wales would have been still a coastal region like now, however, the climate then would be warmer for dinosaurs.

Draco also appears to be one of the smaller, flesh eating dinosaurs, measuring just above two feet tall, and 6.5 feet long. Martill and team assumes that this specimen might have died when it was just a juvenile, where more evidence shows that its bones were not yet fully developed.

A unique feature of Draco would be its distinct long tail, where scientists believe that this helped the small dinosaur to balance itself.

This new study also determined the period when this dinosaur existed, as the features of the dinosaur along with the geological formation where it was discovered, all lead to evidence of late Triassic to early Jurassic period, where the team finally agreed upon Jurassic.

According to co-author of the study, Steven Vidovic from the University of Portsmouth, there was a significant extinction event between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, which determined the evolution of dinosaurs into the Jurassic and Cretaceous. However, prior to this, only little was known about how dinosaurs diversified and flourished, ruling the world.

This new study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.