Wylie Brys ( pictured ) and his dad , Dallas zookeper Tim Brys , were digging for fossils near a grocery store when Wylie found the dinosaur bones . A five-year-old boy in Dallas has had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of discovering 100million-year-old dinosaur bones while searching for fossils with his dad . Wylie Brys was digging with his dad , Tim Brys , back in September at a construction site near a Mansfield , Texas , grocery store when he made the ancient discovery . 'He walked up ahead of me and found a piece of bone , ' Dallas zookeeper Brys said . 'It was a pretty good size and I knew I had something interesting . ' The pair had been finding fish vertebrae , but when Wylie came back with the bone , Brys asked him to take him to where he found it , according to KSAX . And now , scientists from Southern Methodist University have helped a Dallas zookeeper and his 5-year-old son excavate the fossil . Tim Brys and his son Wylie worked at the excavation site Tuesday to dig up what paleontology professor Dale Winkler believes could be a nodosaur , a pony-sized dinosaur that dwelled on land . Though Brys and Wylie discovered the fossil last September , it took over seven months to obtain necessary permits to dig up the bones . Scientists started digging last Friday , according to the Dallas Morning News . At the time , the zookeeper , who often leisurely digs for fossils with his son , was not sure what Wylie , then four years old , had found . Wylie ( left ) and his dad Tim Brys ( right ) often go on fossil-searching trips as a way to be outside and spend time together . It 's believed that the bones Wylie found belong to a nodosaur , a a pony-sized herbivore with scaly , plated skin . The two kept digging because they knew there was a chance of finding Jurassic period marine life remnants in the area . What they found was the nodosaur - meaning 'knobby lizard ' in Greek . The lizards were 15-foot-long , scaly-plated plant eaters that could weigh up to about 2,000 pounds according to the Dallas Zoo . 'My dad told me it was a turtle , ' Wylie said Tuesday at the site of his discovery . 'But now he 's telling me it 's a dinosaur . ' University experts said it is rare to find a dinosaur in the Dallas area . Wylie Brys , 5 , background , watches as Southern Methodist University 's Michael Polcyn ( right ) supervises the removal of a dinosaur bones encased plaster from Mansfield , Texas on Tuesday . University experts say it 's rare to find dinosaur remains in the Dallas area . The fossils were wrapped in burlap and plaster to create a protective shell around the bones , like a cast around a human 's broken bones . They will be transported to Southern Methodist University for cleaning and assembly , which will likely take months , Winkler said . He added that excavation will continue at the site for the next week or so before construction crews continue building in the area , but that it is unlikely for another dinosaur to be discovered at that site . Brys is n't expertly trained in searching for fossils , but he learned a few tips from the scientists . He and Wylie collect fossils as something they can 'do together outside , ' Brys told KXAS . And Brys told the Washington Post that Wylie is just like any other five-year-old . 'He 's a little kid , ' Brys said . 'He likes playing in dirt as much as finding the fossils , I think . '
Tim Brys and his dad , Dallas zookeeper Wylie Brys , were digging for fossils near a local grocery store when they made the discovery in September . After seven months , they acquired permits to dig up the bones . Scientists from Southern Methodist University are helping with excavation . Fossils are expected for be from a nodosaur , a pony-sized herbivore with scaly , plated skin .