The fossils of a large dinosaur have been found in a famous Chinese city sparking great excitement among scientists and the public alike.
Hong Kong officials said the fossils were discovered on the remote and uninhabited Port Island.
The island is located in the Unesco Global Geopark in the city’s north-eastern waters.
This is the first time the remains of a dinosaur have ever been found in the region.
Previously only a dinosaur-era fish fossil had been discovered in Hong Kong by scientists.
The discovery came after the conservation department in March alerted its Antiquities and Monuments Office to some sedimentary rock containing substances suspected to be vertebrate fossils.
The fossils are believed to be from a large dinosaur from the Cretaceous period, dating back about 145 million to 66 million years ago.
Government officials say further studies will need to be conducted to establish the species of the prehistoric animal.
Bernadette Linn Hon-ho, the secretary of development, said: “The discovery is of great significance and provides new evidence for research on palaeo-ecology in Hong Kong.”
The discovery has aroused great interest from the public and scientific community.
To satisfy public curiosity, the fossils will go on display at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of the city’s popular shopping districts, starting on Friday.
The government is also planning to open a temporary workshop for the public to observe experts’ preparation of fossil specimens by the end of 2024.
Hong Kong has long carried out extensive research on dinosaurs but has not been able to claim any discoveries until now.
Professor Michael Pittman, a palaeontologist with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the discovery was an exciting moment for the city.
He said: “Hong Kong is famous for being a built-up landscape, but half of it is country park.
“In the countryside areas most of what you see are dinosaur-era rocks, but it’s volcanic rocks – and they are bad places to find fossils because fossils just melt.
“But Port Island is one of the islands that has dinosaur-age rocks of the right type and right environment.”