Local paleontologist talks Nevada's first dinosaur unveiling, backyard bones update

 LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -- Paleontologists at the Nevada Science Center, located in downtown Henderson, are getting ready to unveil Nevada's first dinosaur species.

Cofounder of the Nevada Science Center, Joshua Bonde, said the center is the only natural history museum in Henderson. Located off Water Street, the center is involved in geology and all aspects of paleontology.

They host virtual field trips locally and for students as far as Europe. 

The center recently announced they're set to unveil the first dinosaur from the state of Nevada. Bonde and his teammate at the time made the discovery in 2008 at the Valley of Fire State Park. 

This month, the Nevada Science Center will unveil a new dinosaur species discovered in only the Silver State.

"We came across a brand new site in the middle of a hail storm, and as we’re hunkered down in the middle of this hail storm she was looking down at the dirt. And when your head is down and the hail is hitting the back of your neck and pick up a little bone and you know that was back in 2008 and we’ve gone back a number of times and collected more and more of this little animal. And it’s going to be a brand new dinosaur to science and we’re excited to unveil on the 23rd at Lovelady Brewing Company which is our neighbor down here on Water Street," Bonde said.

The event is free and the community is invited to join from 5 to 8 p.m. on the Sept. 23. 

“It’s really exciting to name a new species, this is actually new to me as a paleontologist," Bonde said. 

The Nevada Science Center, which is an active research lab, plans to open their doors to the public.

"We’re shooting for October 7. The public can come in, they can check out these cool fossils we found across the entire state right here in downtown Henderson.”

Bonde is the same paleontologist working on dating a set of horse bones found in the backyard of a northwest Las Vegas home while a couple were digging up their pool in April.

The bones could date as far back as the Ice Age. 

“It’s amazing to us because we’re near Floyd Lamb Park, we’re near the fossil beds," said homeowner Matthew Perkins said.

Perkins said they broke ground on their new pool at the end of April, the bones were fully excavated by Bonde in May. They were able to get most of the top half of the horse out. 

“Unfortunately, the lower half of the body was too far deep under the house and we made the decision at that point, they covered it up with burlap, sealed it, covered it with sand bags so in the future the cement didn’t damage it and it’s still there in one piece," Perkins said.

Perkins and his husband loaned the bones to the Nevada Science for a year.

"They’ll preserve them, clean them up. We want to make sure Josh and Becky are able to get the paper out and they get the credit for all the work they’ve done," Perkins said. 

He said discovery is still feels like an adventure and they look forward to learning what the scientific dating of the bones are. Perkins hopes Bonde with the help of other scientists will be able get the date down by mid-October.

“Is it 100 years old, is it 10,000 years old? There’s so much in between there. Sure it would be great for us if it’s a fossil in 10,000 years old and it would be amazing to us if it was 500 years old because that then changes what we know of when horses came to north America. So to us we just want to figure out what it is and do what we can to help the community with it,” Perkins said.