Bone Wars

Lore & Background

At first, the relationship between Cope and Marsh was amicable; they met in Berlin in 1864 and spent several days together, even naming species after each other. Over time their relations soured due to strong personalities: Cope was pugnacious and quick-tempered, while Marsh was slower, more methodical, and introverted. Their differences extended into science, as Cope supported Neo-Lamarckism and Marsh supported Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Cope was born into a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia, while Marsh grew up poor in Lockport, New York, until his uncle George Peabody funded the Peabody Museum of Natural History and left Marsh an inheritance.

On one occasion, after a fossil-collecting expedition to Cope's marl pits in New Jersey, Marsh secretly bribed the pit operators to divert future finds to himself. Marsh humiliated Cope by pointing out that his reconstruction of the plesiosaur Elasmosaurus was flawed, with the head placed where the tail should have been. Cope began collecting in what Marsh considered his private bone-hunting turf in Kansas and Wyoming. In the 1870s, Cope used his influence to join the U.S. Geological Survey under Ferdinand Hayden, leading to a rift with Joseph Leidy. Cope's 1872 expedition to Wyoming included two men secretly in Marsh's employ, and any pretense of cordiality ended by 1872, with open hostility by spring 1873.

Reader's Guide

The Bone Wars, spanning from 1877 to 1892, resulted in the discovery and description of 142 new species of dinosaurs, significantly increasing knowledge of prehistoric life. Both Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their attempts to outcompete and disgrace each other, but they left behind many unopened boxes of fossils after their deaths, providing substantial material for further work. The intense rivalry sparked the public's interest in dinosaurs and led to continued fossil excavation in North America in the decades following. Many historical books and fictional adaptations have been published about this period of intense fossil-hunting activity.

Did You Know?

• Cope and Marsh used underhanded methods including bribery, theft, and destruction of bones.
• Marsh humiliated Cope by pointing out that his reconstruction of the plesiosaur Elasmosaurus had the head where the tail should have been.
• By the end of the Bone Wars, both men had exhausted their funds in the pursuit of paleontological supremacy.
• The efforts of the two men led to 142 new species of dinosaurs being discovered and described.