Boston Some of the world's best-loved dinosaur skeletons are becoming victims of their own popularity. Michael Brett-Surman, a palaeontologist at the museum, is advising other museums to check for damage.
Fossils are very fragile.
With seven million visitors a year exhaling inside the Smithsonian museum, humidity can reach 95 per cent. The triceratops has also been damaged by the metal rods on which the display is mounted. The rods are not padded, so they transmit vibrations from visitors' feet and passing traffic outside the building. This has caused the bones to develop cracks and crumble. Smithsonian staff discovered the problem when they sought to update their displays.