The team of palaeontologists from University College Dublin (UCD) are believed to have uncovered the remains of a bird-like dinosaur in the central Asian republic. They will travel back to Kazakhstan in May to do more research.

Led by Dr Gareth Dyke of the UCD School of Biology, the researchers have recovered small sections of the animal and hope to uncover more remains when they go back to the region at the start of the summer.

According to Dyke, it will be at least six months before they can assemble the bones and reconstruct the dinosaur.

The as yet unnamed new species was discovered close to the Caspian Sea, an area which, according to Dyke, contains some of the best preserved fossils in the world.

"So much of that area has never been looked at in detail because it was under the Soviet Union for so long, " he said. "We believe this research could really be a landmark event in the world of palaeontology."

Fossils from the new dinosaur, which are between 70 and 200 million years old, will be moved back to Ireland to be studied further. The fossils will also go on display at the Natural History Museum which, along with Intune Technologies, has helped with the project.

"We will bring them back here and try to piece it all together, " said Dyke. "There has never been a dinosaur exhibition in Ireland before, so it will be great to put one on. This will actually be the first time dinosaurs have ever come to Ireland because this country was covered in water when they were alive."

The new dinosaur is thought to have been small and would be related to birds.

It is believed the species was carnivorous.

The UCD-based consortium leading the research into the species has established a research link with the Institute of Geological Sciences in Kazakhstan to research the fossils further.

Four researchers from UCD will travel to Kazakhstan in May to look for more dinosaur fossils and find out more about the new species. According to Dyke, the results of the research will increase our knowledge of dinosaurs and will also benefit the study of animal extinction.