According to a new study, the land mass that now constitutes the Indian subcontinent joined the Asian continent about 40 million years ago instead of 50 million years as previously thought.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have claimed that they have found evidence that proves that India joined with Asia 10 million years later than previously thought by the archaeological community. The researchers also said that the size of the landmass was much smaller than earlier thought.

Experts say that the Himalayas mountain range is the result of the collision between India with Asia so many millions of years ago. It was believed that the land mass joined the continent 50 million years ago as it moved rapidly northwards to join Eurasia. The collision created higher grounds forming the Himalayan ranges that still separate India and Asian continent generally.

Scientists studied the composition of rocks from two regions in the Himalayas and found that there are evidence of two separate collisions. MIT researchers said that the India collided with a string of islands 50 million years ago and collided with Eurasian continent after 10 million years.

Jagoutz, an author of the paper said "India came running full speed at Asia and boom, they collided. But we actually don't think it was one collision, these changes dramatically the way we think India works."