Dinosaur skeleton kept in a South African museum for 30 years is found to be a new species called 'grey skull' which was 10ft long and lived around 200 million years ago

Scientists have identified a new type of dinosaur after reexamining a specimen that had been sitting in a museum in South Africa for 30 years.  

The new dinosaur, named Ngwevu intloko - which means grey skull in the Xhosa language - has been described from a single fairly specimen, according to the Daily Mail.

The remains are said to have been almost entirely in tact and included a remarkably well-preserved skull.

The specimen indicates it was most likely an omnivore, walked on two legs, had a fairly chunky body, a long slender neck and a small boxy head.

Scientists say it would have measured three metres (9.84ft) from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail.  

Professor Paul Barrett, a dinosaur researcher at the Natural History Museum, is part of a team that reassessed the specimen, which is being held at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 

He said: “This is a new dinosaur that has been hiding in plain sight.

“The specimen has been in the collections in Johannesburg for about 30 years, and lots of other scientists have already looked at it. But they all thought that it was simply an odd example of Massospondylus."

Massospondylus was one of the first dinosaurs to reign at the start of the Jurassic period.

Researchers are now looking closer at many of the supposed Massospondylus specimens, believing there to be much more variation than first thought.