Philippine scientists have identified a dinosaur fossil, unearthed in a mountainous area in 2008, of a previously unknown new species of dinosaur.

Experts from the Philippine Academy of Sciences say they have identified dinosaur fossils, unearthed in January 2008, of a previously unknown species of horned dinosaur.

The image of the dinosaur Sinoceratops Zhuchengensis was reconstructed on a computer and its fossils.Dr. Xu Xing, a biologist at CAS, and his team have named the new dinosaur Sinoceratops Zhuchengensis. The horned dinosaur was usually herbivorous and lived in the late Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago.

“The skull of this dinosaur is at least 180 centimeters long and 105 centimeters wide,” said Dr Xu. “It has a large horn 30cm long in the front and 10 small horns on the top of its head.”

The team also said that the discovery of the new dinosaur Zhuchengensis could prompt scientists to rewrite current hypotheses about dinosaur species diversity and environmental adaptation.

Before the discovery of fossils of a horned dinosaur by Filipino scientists in 2008, fossils of this dinosaur had only been found in North America. Therefore, Dr. Xu believes that their findings help partly support the theory that horned dinosaurs migrated from Asia to North America.