Lecture Summary: The Rivalry and Discoveries of Cope and Marsh

Introduction

• Corporate sponsors: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P Sloan Foundation, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS viewers.
• Overview of American fascination with dinosaurs for over a century.
• Key figures: Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, pioneers in paleontology.

Early Discoveries and Rivalry

• Cope and Marsh discovered over 130 dinosaur species, contributing to Darwin's theory of evolution.
• Personal rivalry: Began as friends, ended as bitter enemies.
• Competed in the American West for dinosaur fossils.

Initial Expeditions

• 1868: Marsh's first trip West, inspired by landscapes and potential fossil discoveries.
• 1868: Cope's involvement in assembling Hadrosaurus displayed in Philadelphia.
• Early conflict: Marsh secured New Jersey quarry fossils behind Cope's back.

Major Fossil Discoveries

• Cope's mistake: Misassembled Elasmosaurus, Marsh publicized the error.
• 1870: Marsh's first scientific fossil hunting expedition in the West.
• Cope's 1872 Expedition to Fort Bridger; Marsh's spies monitored Cope.
• The discovery of Uintatherium by Cope, Marsh, and Leidy.

Competition and Territory

• Marsh's dominance in Yale, extensive fossil collection funded by George Peabody.
• Cope's massive personal fossil collection and prolific publications.
• Conflict over the Bridger Basin fossil site.

Evolution of the Horse and Bird Fossils

• Marsh's evidence supporting Darwin: Fossil horses and prehistoric birds with teeth.
• Acclaim from Huxley and Darwin for Marsh's work.

Financial and Professional Struggles

• Cope's inheritance allowed further expeditions; financial troubles emerged later.
• Cope's continuous fossil discoveries despite personal challenges.
• Marsh's strategic alliances and funding cuts.

The Bone Wars

• 1877: Discovery of giant dinosaur bones in Morrison, Colorado, and Como Bluff, Wyoming.
• Intense competition: Marsh employed spies and ordered destruction of fossils to thwart Cope.

Impact on Science and Legacy

• Both scientists contributed significantly to paleontology and evolutionary biology.
• Cope's vast fossil collection and scholarly work; Marsh's iconic dinosaur discoveries and evidence of evolution.
• Scandal and congressional scrutiny led to the downfall of Marsh's institutional power.

End of an Era

• Cope and Marsh's final years marked by financial and health declines.
• Cope's death in 1897; Marsh's death in 1899.
• Their rivalry propelled American paleontology to international prominence.

Conclusion

• The contributions of Cope and Marsh laid the foundations for 20th-century paleontology.
• Despite personal animosity, their work has had a lasting impact on science.