Boy Discovers Rare Dinosaur Fossil in Texas

Many kids love anything to do with dinosaurs, but seldom experience the adventure of finding a real dinosaur fossil. A four-year old boy (now 5) from Mansfield, Texas, has however. Wylie Brys can add his name to the list of people who have discovered a real dinosaur fossil after a trip to an open area near a new shopping center with his dad. Mansfield is a suburb of Dallas.

Wylie Brys was with his father, Tim Brys, a Dallas zookeeper. The two were just digging around the area, hoping to find some fossils like fish or other aquatic life, because the area was under water during prehistoric times. They never expected to discover what they uncovered during their adventure. While looking around, Wylie discovered the rare dinosaur fossil bones and showed them to his father, who thought it was the bones of a turtle, not expecting that it was a rare 100-million year old dinosaur fossil find of a lifetime.

Researchers Help to Dig Up Dinosaur Fossil
Wylie’s father worked with researchers from Southern Methodist University and the zoo with the paperwork to obtain permission for the excavation of the dinosaur fossil. The process took over 7 months. The scientists now believe that the bones young Wylie found are those of a type of Ankylosaur called a nodosaur.
A nodosaur is a dinosaur about the size of a pony that lived about 100-million years ago. This type of dinosaur was originally discovered back in 1923. The nodosaur lived in places like North America, as well as in Europe, Asia and in the Antarctica region from the latter part of the Jurassic period until the latter part of the Cretaceous period.

The dinosaur fossil Wylie found was placed into a special wrap of plaster and burlap for safekeeping while being transported. The researchers at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas will be in charge of cleaning, putting the bones together, and examining them.

Wylie talks about the adventure he had while finding the dinosaur fossil, saying that his dad has told him that the bones are indeed those of a real dinosaur. He was, of course, very excited at that announcement.
Representatives from Southern Methodist University are thankful that the young boy discovered the dinosaur fossil, saying that without his help the bones would have likely been buried under the shopping center and may never have been discovered.

Finding such a dinosaur fossil is considered rare in the area the boy found the bones, and now the researchers will continue to comb the area to determine if there are any other fossils or bones to add to the adventure of discovering such treasures, especially by a four-year old boy.