THE TIMES: Old bones under threat from new phones

Description

The threat of fossil hunters stealing dinosaur remains from one of the world’s richest sites has prompted scientists to order all visitors to disable GPS trackers on their mobile phones.

Paleontologists at the site in northern Wyoming are enforcing the rule as part of a series of measures to keep unscrupulous opportunists at bay.

The site, which is being excavated by a team from the University of Manchester working with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, has already been looted by fossil hunters.

Philip Manning, a professor of natural history at the university, said that trespassing hunters were a constant threat. While antiques shops could “put the alarms on at night, it’s hard for us to flip on a switch, so we have to rely on stealth,” he said.