HONG KONG, Oct 23, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Scientists have discovered dinosaur fossils in Hong Kong for the first time, the city's government announcement on Wednesday, adding that the species remains unknown.

Experts from Hong Kong and mainland China identified the fossils as belonging to a large, aged dinosaur from the Cretaceous period, around 145 million to 66 million years ago, the Development Bureau said in a statement.

The first humans are believed to have appeared on Earth around six million years ago.

Further analysis will be conducted to confirm the species of the dinosaur, the statement said.

The fossils will be put on public display from Friday, it added.

They were discovered on Hong Kong's remote, northeastern Port Island, where suspected vertebrate fossils were first spotted in sedimentary rock in March.

The small, uninhabited outlying islet -- part of Hong Kong's 150-square-kilometre (58-square-mile) UNESCO Global Geopark -- has been closed from Wednesday for further excavations.