A string of vertebrae of a sauropod and a theropod tooth were discovered by researchers from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey in Saudi Arabia, according to a press release.

Dinosaur fossils are extremely rare in the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, the recent discovery by researchers from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey is a major reason to celebrate. This fossils provids the first record of the animal from Saudi Arabia, according to a press release.

"Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula, with only a handful of highly fragmented bones documented this far" said Dr Benjamin Kear, based at Uppsala University in Sweden and lead author of the study. "This discovery is important not only because of where the remains were found, but also because of the fact that we can actually identify them. Indeed, these are the first taxonomically recognizable dinosaurs reported from the Arabian Peninsula."

Researchers claim that this arid region was once filled with bones and teeth of ancient marine reptiles and dinosaurs. The fossil discovered was a string of vertebrae from the tail of a huge "Brontosaurus-like" sauropod. The discovery also included some shed teeth from a carnivorous theropod, which are reportedly 72 million years old.

The discovery was made in the north-western part of the Kingdom along the coast of the Red Sea during excavations conducted by a team of scientists working under the auspices of the Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah.

"Dinosaur remains from the Arabian Peninsula and the area east of the Mediterranean Sea are exceedingly rare because sedimentary rocks deposited in streams and rivers during the Age of Dinosaurs are rare, particularly in Saudi Arabia itself" said Dr Tom Rich from Museum Victoria in Australia. "The hardest fossil to find is the first one. Knowing that they occur in a particular area and the circumstances under which they do, makes finding more fossils significantly less difficult."

Researchers revealed that this Arabian region was largely underwater and formed the north-western coastal margin of the African continent during the time dinosaurs roamed the land.  They also noted that the fossils discovered belong to two types of dinosaurs - "Tyrannosaurus but only about six metres long, and a plant-eating titanosaur perhaps up to 20 metres in length."

Findings of the study were reported in the journal PLOS ONE