Wendiceratops

Illustration by Danielle Dufault

There’s a new dinosaur in town. It’s a newly discovered horned dinosaur that lived at least 79 million years ago. It has been named Wendiceratops  pinhornensis after fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda. The Wendiceratops was 20 feet long and weighed about one ton.

When I read this, I was immediately reminded of two other items recently in the news. The first news article that sprang to mind was an announcement by Montana State University researcher James Horner (the inspiration for Jurassic Park’s Alan Grant) that in about ten years we may be able to create chicken-sized dinosaurs (many dinosaurs were small). After we learn to create small dinosaurs, how long can it be before we create a full-size Wendiceratops?

The second news recollection was the announcement that two companies that make giant fighting robots are arranging for their robots to battle it out in a duel. The 12,000 pound American-made Megatronics Mark II will battle the 9,000 pound Japanese-made Suidobashi Kurata.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? We definitely need a 3-way melee here – the Mark II versus the Kurata versus the Wendiceratops. The Wendiceratops is lighter than the robots, but it’s big and strong and I bet it’s faster. My money is on the dinosaur.

Pay-per-view, are you listening?