The Bone Wars

dinosaurs · paleontology · competition · history

A wild rivalry. Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh were two of the best fossil hunters in America during the 1800s, but they absolutely could not stand each other. Their competition to find and name the most dinosaurs became so intense it shaped how we understand prehistoric life today.

Dirty tricks underground. To win the Bone Wars, these scientists did some pretty awful things like bribing workers, stealing fossils from each other's dig sites, and even destroying bones so their rival couldn't study them. They weren't above cheating to be the first to discover a new species.

Fighting with words. When the two paleontologists weren't battling in the field, they attacked each other in scientific papers and magazines. They tried to damage each other's reputations and convince people to stop giving the other one money to fund their expeditions.

Huge discoveries anyway. Despite all the bad behavior, Cope and Marsh discovered an incredible number of dinosaurs and fossils that taught us about creatures that lived millions of years ago. Their rivalry accidentally pushed paleontology forward faster than it might have gone otherwise.

The Gilded Age rush. The Bone Wars happened during America's Gilded Age, a time when wealthy businesspeople competed fiercely for power and money. This same competitive spirit spread to fossil hunting, turning it into a thrilling race for discovery.