Last dino find was made in 1869

Tapas Kumar Gangopadhyay claims to have found remains of a dinosaur in the city. Since this is the first reported occurrence of dinosaur remains in Nagpur city, the site needs to be properly protected for further studies.

Gangopadhyay told TOI he had already informed about the finding to Deputy Director General of GSI, K Rajaram and requested him to take up the taxonomic studies to identify the particular dinosaur species and ascertain the period of existence of the dinosaur bones discovered by him. Palaeontology director of GSI DM Mohabey, who was not in city to confirm the finding immediately, said that the possibility of finding a dinosaur fossil in the city could not be ruled out.

"I cannot confirm the finding until I see it, but if it is a dinosaur fossil, it is an interesting and exciting find. We will further work in the area as the intertrappean horizons between two basalt flows in Deccan trap are known to house remains of dinosaurs. The last find in Nagpur area was made in 1869. Dinosaur remains have been earlier found in Umrer and Warora in cretaceous sediments," said Mohabey.

Mohabey said that though the exact period could be defined only after further analysis, city finds could date back to 66-65 million years ago making them among the last dinosaurs to walk the earth. He said that remains of dinosaurs in Nagpur city were first reported by Stephen Hislop in Takli area in 1868-69. Gangopadhyay was accompanied by Dhiren Ruidas, Rajesh Kundu and Guatam Shah, a senior geologist with GSI during exploration.