'We'd love to find out what it is': Mystery bones discovered during construction of backyard pool
Construction of a backyard pool in Nevada hit an unexpected snag for a very unexpected reason.
Crews who recently began digging for the pool installation stopped when they discovered bones about 4 to 5 feet below the ground.
"They found the bones on Friday but apparently forgot to mention it to us," homeowner Matt Perkins told KTNV. "Monday morning, we woke up to the pool guy — who said he was going to come check out the pool — we assume that was normal. We wake up, he's out front with the police."
Investigators determined the bones were too large to belong to a human. An expert later confirmed they date back to Earth's last Ice Age — about 14,000 years ago.
"We had joked on Friday that while they started digging, 'Oh great, maybe they will find a dinosaur for us and it will pay for our pool,'" Perkins said. "Obviously, when they told us they found some fossils, that was a shock to us."
Josh Bonde, director of research at Nevada Science Center, told KTNV the skeleton is likely from a mammal and maybe even an Ice Age horse who stopped for a drink from nearby natural springs while traveling through the Mohave Desert.
"This animal is surrounded by partially compacted vegetation so it probably died on the edge of a spring and then just probably fell into the spring to be preserved or some other mechanism buried very quickly," Bonde said.
The fossils found at the site of the Perkins' future pool are not far from the Tule Springs Fossil Beds, where large skeletons of mammoths have been unearthed.
Bonde said fossils found in the U.S. belong to the person who owns the property.
Perkins said he hopes to preserve the bones and find out more about them.