No one would have expected to find Dinosaur Fossils in Kathmandu but it came as a massive surprise that a fossil of Triceratops was found in Kathmandu. This is a very interesting finding considering the fact that The Himalayas formed only about 50-60 million years ago, and the dinosaurs went extinct about 65 MYA. The Himayalas formed when the Indo-Australian plate collided with the Eurasian plate about 65 Mya. It would have happen if the dinosaurs went extinct gradually but research suggests that they went extinct suddenly at once!

But it does contradict with the previous belief that the dinosaur went extinct all at once! Because it is believed that Triceratops was the last dinosaur to go extinct, so it makes sense that it coincides with the fact that it was found in Himalayas that formed later than the extinction of the Dinosaurs! This suggests that Triceratops actually survived whatever Catastrophic event that wiped out dinosaurs from the face of the earth. May be few of them survived and roamed around the Himalayas before going extinct, the then Kathmandu would have been very lower compared to present day Kathmandu so it does make sense! But until further studies, carbon dating or so has been done we can’t be sure of it!

But this finding is very interesting! No one would have ever expected or believed if someone had said that the young mountain system of the Himalayas had dinosaurs roaming in it! Though marine fossils are found even in Mount Everest! A group of researchers have found exclusively marine fossils (Trilobites and Crinoids) at the summit of mount Everest. A reptile found way before Himalayas even existed is a surprising news for everyone in the scientific world. And the most interesting thing about the fossil is that it was found inside a small cave with writing on the walls practiced by early settlers near the Indus valley! Though exact translation wasn’t achieved in the field due to the presence of understandable dialect, an expert from University of Stanford said that one of the writing in the wall said : Happy April Fools day.