Posted by Jurassosaurus [63.184.1.91 - sdn-ap-001caburbP0345.dialsprint.net] on 09 March 2004 at 03.49.46 ZuluTime:

For all those who might be interested, on 21st March, Discovery channel, in its continuing descent into crappy television, is going to air a program that finally answers the question only fanboys ask:

Who would win in a fight: a crocodile, or a shark?

How will they answer this you ask (go on, humour me)? Why by taking muscle measurements of a saltwater croc, and a white pointer (great white) shark.

And since 19 foot sharks and crocs have better things to do than get into potentially damaging fights with one another, the discovery crew are going to build mechanical models and have them duke it out.

Yes, it's Robot WarsŪ with an animistic twist. It's actually reminiscent of what Stan Winston's team did with the old Tyrannosaurus rex robot. In this case, though, they'll probably just measure bite forces and comparative tooth damage, then make a guess as to which critter would most likely win. The entire time this goes on, we'll be inundated with stock footage of crocs and sharks, and multi-angle snippets of the robo-heads tearing apart various objects.

In that sense, it could be interesting. The jaw strength of crocodylians has been well documented. To date, crocodylomorphs are world record holders for bite force (a title they've held since the early Cretaceous).

Of course, no one has accurately measured the bite force of a Carcharodon carcharius, so it is possible (though doubtful in my opinion) that they are stronger.

Then there's the issue of tooth damage...but I digress.

Anyway we can all tune in on 21st March to see two robot animals go at it. If it's a hit, then maybe we'll get to look forward to:

Tyrannosaurus rex vs Giganotosaurus carolinii

Architeuthis dux vs Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni

And the inevitable sequel:

Deinosuchus rugosus vs Carcharocles [Carcharodon] megalodon

Discovery Channel: Rot...er entertain your brain.