It’s taken 17 years of excavations in a desert of Kyrgyzstan, but to palaeontologists the prize is magnificent—Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, a strange new species of predatory dinosaur, perhaps most distinct for its somewhat freaky “protruding eyebrows”.

Eight or nine metres in length—about the size of a male killer whale—it is a type of theropod, namely a large group of animals that includes well-known dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, as well as modern birds.

Excavation campaigns to uncover the dinosaur fossils began in 2006 in a mountainous desert region near the city of Tashkumyr in western Kyrgyzstan.

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus is the first ever theropod dinosaur found in Kyrgyzstan, and "closes a huge gap in our knowledge of the Jurassic theropods," the BBC’s Discover Wildlife website reported Professor Oliver Rauhut, who headed the follow-up study on the dinosaur, published in the Zoological Journal, as saying.

The new species takes its name from Alpkarakush, a giant, heroic bird. It features in the Epic of Manas, a traditional poem of the Kyrgyz people of Central Asia.

It was Kyrgyz palaeontologist Aizek Bakirov who in 2006 discovered the first remains of the dinosaur, deposited during the Middle Jurassic period around 165mn years ago.

The palaeontologists were reportedly particularly excited by an odd “eyebrow” on a skull bone behind the eye opening. It indicated the presence of a horn. Unique features were also found on the dorsal vertebrae and femur.

The remains of a juvenile specimen of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus have also been found at the site.

Theropods are one of the best-known groups of dinosaurs. They once commonly inhabited many parts of the planet, but it was not until Bakirov made his discovery in Kyrgyzstan that scientists could say such large Jurassic predatory dinosaurs existed in the huge region between Central Europe and East Asia.

Analysis of the remains of the Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus specimen suggest it was close to adulthood at around 17 years-old.

An original dinosaur skeleton has never been exhibited in Kyrgyzstan. There are plans to present the bones of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus alongside a reconstruction in the National Historical Museum in Bishkek, according to Discover Wildlife.