A bronze cast of the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as the Wankel T.rex. Photo courtesy Museum of the Rockies.

The phrase “Now they’ve gone too far!” has been typed many times this week in regards to the federal government shutdown. And here it is again: Now they’ve gone too far!

The arrival of the Wankel T. rex to the National Museum of Natural History may be delayed because Congress hates cool dinosaur bones, I guess. Here’s the story from WTOP:

The fossil of a Tyrannosaurus Rex is supposed to hit the road in two weeks. But all the planning to get it safely across the country is halted due to the shutdown.

“The longer this continues, the more uncertainty there is about the arrival of the T-Rex,” says Randall Kramer with the Natural History Museum.

Parts of the T. rex are scheduled to be on display at National Fossil Day on October 16. Don’t try to check out its website: It’s down at the moment.

Of course, not all hope is lost yet. Here’s a message from Fossil Day’s Facebook page:
“Although the federal government is closed and the NPS websites are down – please continue to plan your National Fossil Day events and activities. Most of our 280 NFD partners are non-federal and are moving forward with our nationwide celebration on October 16. The NPS team will return and hopefully soon. In the meantime – thanks for all the great work you are doing to promote one of the coolest events – National Fossil Day.”

The Wankel T. rex will be on display at the Natural History Museum’s dinosaur hall, which is scheduled to open in 2019. Hopefully, the shutdown will be over by then.