The Bone Wars: Cope & Marsh

Fossil Huntress — Palaeo Sommelier

Welcome back to the Fossil Huntress Podcast, the show where we dig into the dirt—literally—to uncover the most fascinating stories from Earth’s deep past.

Here you'll find ammonites, trilobites, dinosaurs and more!

I’m Heidi Henderson, the Fossil Huntress, your host, and today… we’re diving into one of the most epic rivalries in science history.

It’s got fossils. It’s got sabotage. It’s got exploding railcars and a whole lot of dinosaur bones.

It was one of the most famous of all paleo feuds we affectionately call the Bone Wars—the intense feud between two 19th-century paleontologists: Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.

Alright, let’s set the scene. It’s the late 1800s. Paleontology is still a young science, and the American West is full of undiscovered fossil treasure. Into this world step two brilliant, ambitious, and very competitive scientists: Cope and Marsh.

Edward Drinker Cope was a Philadelphian—charismatic, energetic, a bit hot-headed. He published tons of papers, traveled constantly, and had a deep love for reptiles and amphibians.

Othniel Charles Marsh was from Connecticut—quiet, methodical, and extremely well-connected. In fact, his wealthy uncle was the founder of Yale’s Peabody Museum.

At first, they were friends. Briefly. They even went fossil hunting together in New Jersey. But that didn’t last long.

So what went wrong?

Well, the drama really kicked off over a fossil of an extinct marine reptile called Elasmosaurus. Cope reconstructed the skeleton and proudly published it—except he put the skull on the wrong end. Marsh gleefully pointed out the mistake, and let’s just say Cope didn’t take it well.

From that moment on, it was war.

The two men started competing furiously—racing to out-discover, out-name, and out-publish each other. They hired entire fossil-hunting teams, often sending them to the same dig sites in the American West.

And they didn’t play fair.

They bribed each other’s workers.They spied on dig sites.They even dynamited fossils to keep the other from getting them. (Yes, really.)

But here's the wild part: in their rush to beat each other, Cope and Marsh made some of the most important fossil discoveries in history.

Between them, they described over 130 new dinosaur species—including some names you might recognize:

• Stegosaurus
• Apatosaurus
• Diplodocus
• Allosaurus

And dozens more. Their discoveries laid the groundwork for modern paleontology—even though they were practically trying to ruin each other the whole time.

By the time the Bone Wars fizzled out in the 1890s, both men were basically broke. They’d spent their fortunes on fossil digs, museum battles, and publishing wars.

But despite the chaos, their work helped turn dinosaurs into a global fascination—and opened the door to one of the greatest eras of fossil discovery the world had ever seen.

So what’s the legacy of the Bone Wars?

Well, it’s a cautionary tale about how ego and rivalry can warp science—but also a story about passion, persistence, and the thrill of discovery.

Today, paleontologists continue to refine, revise, and build on the work that Cope and Marsh started—even correcting some of the mistakes they made in their rush to be first.

Because science isn’t about who gets the credit. It’s about uncovering the truth, one bone at a time.