Scientists in China have discovered the fossils of a previously-unknown dinosaur species - a meat-eating theropod.

The fossils of the dinosaur were unearthed at Longshan in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong in September, said Dong Zhiming, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.

The dinosaur was estimated to have lived about 180 million years ago, or during the early Jurassic Period, the People's Daily reported Sunday.

"The dinosaur was at least 120 cm long and 70 cm tall, and it had a long tail and sharp teeth," he said.

It was related to the Coelophysises, which were small, meat-eating dinosaurs and lived in the North American continent in the late Triassic period.

The new species will be named after a more detailed research, officials said.