In 1864, in Berlin, two young American fossil hunters became friends. Edward Cope was impulsive and prolific, writing up discoveries as fast as he made them. Othniel Marsh was methodical and calculating, a scholar backed by a millionaire uncle. They spent days together there and kept writing to each other for years. Each even named a fossil after the other, Cope an amphibian and Marsh a sea reptile. Both were rich enough to buy their own expeditions, and both wanted to rule American paleontology. That ambition was the trouble. Within four years the friendship was over, and what followed became known as the Bone Wars. It involved bribery, spying and dynamite, and it also dug up many of the most famous dinosaurs in the world. So what turned two admirers of each other into the bitterest of enemies?
The Bone Wars: Cope vs Marsh
Two friends turned rivals raced to dig up America's dinosaurs with bribes, spies and smashed bones.
Friends in Berlin
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Frequently Asked Questions
What were the Bone Wars?
The Bone Wars were a bitter rivalry between the paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Each tried to beat the other to fossils by bribery, spying and sabotage. The contest produced many famous dinosaurs and also destroyed specimens.
Why did Cope and Marsh stop being friends?
In 1868 Cope invited Marsh to a fossil quarry in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Marsh secretly paid the pit operators to send future finds to Yale instead of to Cope. When Cope found out, the friendship ended.
Why is the name Brontosaurus tied to the Bone Wars?
Marsh named Brontosaurus in 1879, but in his haste he eventually associated the skeleton with the wrong skull. The specimen was actually a species of Apatosaurus he had discovered two years earlier. The error took over a century to correct.
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