The Bone Wars

Summary

Everything Everywhere Daily: The Bone Wars

Episode Release Date: November 13, 2024
Host: Gary Arndt | Glassbox Media

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Introduction

In the captivating episode titled "The Bone Wars," Gary Arndt delves into one of the most infamous rivalries in the history of science. Set against the backdrop of the 19th century—a period marked by unprecedented scientific and technological advancements—Arndt explores the intense competition between two pioneering paleontologists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. This feud not only accelerated the field of paleontology but also left a legacy fraught with ethical dilemmas and scientific controversies.

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The 19th Century: A Prelude to Rivalry

Timestamp: [02:14]

Gary Arndt sets the stage by highlighting the transformative nature of the 19th century. "The 19th century was arguably the century that saw the greatest advancement in science and technology in human history," he states, emphasizing the era's role in shaping modern civilization. Innovations such as the railroad and the telegraph revolutionized communication and transportation, while scientific discoveries laid the groundwork for future explorations.

This period also witnessed a burgeoning interest in understanding the Earth's distant past. Fossils, previously considered mere curiosities, began to be recognized as windows into ancient epochs. Geologists like James Hutton and Charles Lyell introduced groundbreaking theories of deep time and gradual geological change, providing a scientific framework for studying fossils systematically.

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The Genesis of Paleontology’s Golden Age

Timestamp: [02:19]

Arndt recounts how the Industrial Revolution inadvertently propelled paleontology forward. Large-scale excavation projects for mines, canals, and railways unearthed an abundance of fossilized remains, sparking widespread interest in these relics. "The concept of deep time was revolutionary," Arndt notes, underscoring its significance in shifting scientific perspectives from viewing fossils as anomalies to recognizing them as remnants of prehistoric life.

The discovery of the first dinosaur fossils, such as Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hyliosaurus, ignited public imagination. In 1842, British anatomist Sir Richard Owen coined the term Dinosauria, meaning "terrible lizards," to classify this newfound group of ancient reptiles. Arndt highlights the Victorian fascination with natural history, epitomized by the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1854, which showcased dinosaur reconstructions and popularized paleontology.

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Meet the Bone Wars: Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh

Timestamp: [02:18]

At the heart of the episode are the two central figures of the Bone Wars—Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.

• Edward Drinker Cope: Born in Philadelphia, Cope was a self-taught naturalist with a fervent passion for classifying new species. Coming from a wealthy Quaker family, his intense personality and impulsiveness characterized his approach to science. Cope adhered to Lamarckism, the now-discredited theory that organisms can pass acquired traits to their offspring.

• Othniel Charles Marsh: In contrast, Marsh hailed from New York and came from a family of modest means, supported by his affluent uncle, George Peabody. A methodical and reserved scientist, Marsh pursued formal education and eventually secured the first chair of paleontology at Yale University. Unlike Cope, Marsh was a staunch Darwinist, believing in natural selection as the driving force of evolution.

Arndt emphasizes their shared love for paleontology despite their divergent backgrounds and personalities. Their initial camaraderie was evident when they named each other's discoveries—Cope named an amphibian Tionis Martius in honor of Marsh, while Marsh reciprocated by naming a marine fossil Mosasaurus copianus.

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The Rift: Catalysts of the Feud

Timestamp: [02:21]

Upon returning to the United States, the once amicable relationship between Cope and Marsh soured, leading to a bitter rivalry known as the Bone Wars. Arndt outlines two pivotal events in 1868 that ignited this feud:

1. The Hadrosaurus Incident:

   • Discovery: William Parker Fulk, an attorney and amateur paleontologist, unearthed the first complete dinosaur fossil in the United States—the Hadrosaurus.
   • Conflict: Cope, managing the fossil pit, expected the fossils to be sent to his collection. However, Marsh deceitfully bribed the pit manager to redirect the fossils to himself instead.
   • Quote: "Marsh secretly contacted the pit manager and bribed him to send him the fossils found in the pit, not Cope. And this made Cope furious." [Timestamp: ~06:30]

2. The Elasmosaurus Debacle:

   • Discovery: An intact skeleton of Elasmosaurus was displayed at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, where Cope served as director.
   • Conflict: Cope erroneously positioned the skull at the tail end of the skeleton, assuming the tail was longer. Marsh publicly ridiculed this mistake, asserting that the skull belonged to the neck.
   • Quote: "Marsh publicly humiliated Cope by pointing out that he had put the skull at the end of the tail, not the neck." [Timestamp: ~08:15]

These incidents fueled mutual disdain, laying the foundation for a lifelong vendetta characterized by professional sabotage and personal animosity.

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Escalation: Strategies of Sabotage and Competition

Timestamp: [02:18]

As the Bone Wars intensified, Arndt describes how both Cope and Marsh employed increasingly ruthless tactics to outdo each other:

• Racing to Excavations: Both paleontologists organized separate expeditions to fossil-rich regions in the American West, leveraging the expansion of railways for easier access. They scouted areas like Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, hiring teams to maximize fossil recovery.

• Sabotage on Como Bluff: One of the most notorious battlegrounds was Como Bluff in Wyoming. Initially, Marsh secured exclusive information and financed discoveries, but internal conflicts led informants to defect to Cope. This defection sparked fierce competition, with both sides sabotaging each other's digs—burying or hiding fossils to prevent access.

  Quote: "Both scientists frequently published rushed descriptions of new species to claim priority." [Timestamp: ~10:45]

• Publication Battles: The rivalry extended to academic journals, where Cope and Marsh rushed to publish their findings, often resulting in misidentifications and scientific inaccuracies. For instance, Marsh mistakenly attached a Brachiosaurus head to a Brontosaurus skeleton. Their disputes were not confined to private interactions but spilled into scientific discourse, tarnishing their reputations.

  Quote: "Their feuds were often aired in scientific journals and popular press, diminishing their credibility amongst their peers." [Timestamp: ~12:20]

• Economic Warfare: Cope, initially the wealthier of the two, drained his resources in the quest to outpace Marsh. Conversely, Marsh leveraged his connections with Yale University and the Peabody Museum, securing substantial funding that allowed him to sustain prolonged excavations and expand his operations.

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The Turning Tide and Public Outcry

Timestamp: [02:18]

By the 1880s, Marsh had gained the upper hand in the Bone Wars. His affiliation with Yale and the financial backing of the Peabody Museum enabled him to outspend Cope, who was nearly bankrupt after years of relentless competition. However, the feud showed no signs of abating. Both men continued to undermine each other through various means, even as other institutions, like Harvard University, entered the fray.

• Media Attention: The rivalry extended beyond scientific circles, attracting widespread media scrutiny. In 1890, The New York Herald published a story titled "Scientists Wage Bitter Warfare," highlighting the public spectacle of their feud. This exposure embarrassed the paleontological community and led many scientists to distance themselves from both Cope and Marsh.

  Quote: "What had been a fight inside the paleontology community now spilled out into the public, and it had become an embarrassment for the entire discipline." [Timestamp: ~13:30]

• Scientific Community’s Reaction: The relentless public disputes and unprofessional conduct led prestigious journals like The American Naturalist to ban both men, further isolating them from the broader scientific community.

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The Final Chapters of the Feud

Timestamp: [02:18]

In an unusual culmination of their rivalry, Cope and Marsh's competition persisted even into their final years:

• Cope’s Posthumous Challenge: In 1897, Edward Drinker Cope left instructions for his skull to be donated to science, proposing that his brain size be measured and compared to Marsh's as a testament to his intellectual superiority. This macabre challenge underscored the depth of his disdain for Marsh.

  Quote: "Cope believed that brain size correlated with superior intelligence and wanted to prove, even after death, that he was Marsh's superior." [Timestamp: ~14:10]

• Marsh’s Reticence: Othniel Charles Marsh declined to participate in this posthumous comparison, choosing instead to remain silent on the matter until his death in 1899.

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Legacy of the Bone Wars

Timestamp: [02:18]

The Bone Wars left an indelible mark on the field of paleontology. Arndt articulates the complex legacy of Cope and Marsh:

• Scientific Contributions: Together, they discovered and described approximately 136 new species of dinosaurs, laying the foundational knowledge for future paleontological research. Their relentless pursuit of fossils expanded the scientific community's understanding of prehistoric life.

  Quote: "Many of their discoveries were made because of the competition between them." [Timestamp: ~15:00]

• Negative Consequences: The intense rivalry led to significant scientific errors, including misidentifications and rushed publications. Additionally, valuable fossil sites were damaged or destroyed to prevent rivals from benefiting, representing a substantial loss to the scientific record.

• Ethical Lessons: The Bone Wars serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked competition and the importance of ethical standards in scientific research. Arndt emphasizes that their feud illustrates how personal vendettas can hinder scientific progress and compromise the integrity of a discipline.

  Quote: "Today, the Bone wars serve as a cautionary tale and an early chapter in the story of paleontology, illustrating the dangers of unchecked competition instead of cooperation and the importance of ethical standards in scientific research." [Timestamp: ~15:00]

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Conclusion

Gary Arndt's "The Bone Wars" episode masterfully navigates the tumultuous rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, highlighting both their monumental contributions and the detrimental effects of their feud. By weaving historical context with personal narratives, Arndt provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of how passion and competition can drive scientific discovery while also cautioning against the perils of personal animosity in the pursuit of knowledge.

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Notable Quotes

• On the Transformative Era:
  "The 19th century was arguably the century that saw the greatest advancement in science and technology in human history." [02:14]

• On Public Fascination with Paleontology:
  "The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1854 displayed reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals which fascinated the public and made paleontology a subject of popular interest." [Timestamp: ~04:00]

• On the Specifics of the Rivalry:
  "Their feuds were often aired in scientific journals and popular press, diminishing their credibility amongst their peers." [12:20]

• On the Legacy of the Bone Wars:
  "Today, the Bone wars serve as a cautionary tale and an early chapter in the story of paleontology, illustrating the dangers of unchecked competition instead of cooperation and the importance of ethical standards in scientific research." [15:00]

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Acknowledgments

Executive Producer: Charles Daniel
Associate Producers: Benji Long and Cameron Kiefer

A special thanks to all Patreon supporters whose contributions make "Everything Everywhere Daily" possible. For merchandise and to join the community, visit the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links are available in the show notes.

Transcript

[Host]

The 19th century was a period of rapid advancement. New technologies such as the railroad and the telegraph radically changed civilization. Scientific advancements were almost constant as we took great strides in understanding our universe. One scientific field that saw incredible advances was paleontology. Much of the advancement was made by two researchers who found an incredible number of fossils and who totally hated each other. Learn more about the bone wars and how two paleontologists advance the science while destroying each other on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Butcherbox. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that means Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family. A Thanksgiving dinner can be a massive ordeal and a nerve wracking affair. You have to buy all the food and spend the better part of the day preparing everything before serving it. So why not take one thing off your plate by letting Butcherbox take care of the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal, the turkey. Not only will Butcherbox deliver the turkey directly to your door, but they will also offer some of the highest quality turkeys that you can find. Their turkeys are never given antibiotics or hormones, and they're all certified to be raised humanely. And in addition to turkey, they also have ham, beef and seafood, if that's what you prefer. New Butcherbox members that sign up using my link will receive their choice between a whole turkey turkey breast or a spiral ham plus $20 off when they visit butcherbox.com daily and enter code daily at checkout. Once again, that's butcherbox.com daily code daily at checkout.

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Your car the convenient way with Carvana. To understand this extremely peculiar story of animosity and rivalry, you have to understand what was happening in the 19th century. The 19th century was arguably the century that saw the greatest advancement in science and technology in human history. That isn't to take away anything from the advances of the 20th century, but the starting point of the 19th century was closer to life in the ancient world. In addition to discoveries in physics, chemistry and astronomy, we also learned a great deal about our past, our very distant past. Fossils had been known for all of human history. However, they were usually just small things like trilobites that were found in stone. Even if a large fossil was found, they didn't necessarily know that it could have been an animal that lived millions of years earlier. Several things happened in the 19th century that changed our understanding of fossils. For starters, we began digging more. The Industrial Revolution drove people to dig deep into the earth as mines, canals and railways required excavation. These large scale construction projects often unearthed fossilized remains, leading to increased interest in what these relics represented. People certainly did dig in the past, but the scale of excavations grew dramatically and with the development of steam engines, it was possible to excavate more than ever before. All of this digging led to the discovery of fossils in places where no one had ever looked before. As scientists began studying these fossils, they developed new ideas about the earth's history. Geologists such as James Hutton and Charles Lyell introduced theories of deep time and gradual geologic change, providing a framework for understanding fossils as remains from ancient epochs. Rather than mere oddities or biblical curiosities. The concept of deep time was revolutionary. It suggested that the earth was far older than previously thought, creating a natural time scale on which fossils could be studied scientifically. Certain discoveries captured the imagination of the public. The early 19th century saw the discovery of the first dinosaur fossils and their reconstructions. The discovery of species like Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hyliosaurus prompted scientists to realize that there was an entire class of giant reptiles that once roamed the earth. In 1842, British anatomist Sir Richard Owen coined the term Dinosauria, meaning terrible lizards to describe this new group of creatures. The Victorian fascination with the natural world drove the creation of public museums and exhibitions in Britain. The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1854 displayed reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals which fascinated the public and made paleontology a subject of popular interest. So it was in this environment of the popularization of paleontology and the increase in understanding of the distant past that this story takes place. And now I need to introduce the two main characters of the Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Cope was born in Philadelphia and was a self taught naturalist with a passion for classifying new species. He came from a Quaker family and was relatively wealthy and was known for his intense personality and impulsiveness. And he also tended to be a Lamarckian. Lamarckism is the discredited theory that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offsprings driven by use or disuse of specific features. Marsh, on the other hand, was born in New York to a family of modest means. Although he did have One very wealthy relative. He was a methodical scientist who pursued a formal education and eventually held the first chair of paleontology at Yale University. Unlike Cope, Marsh was reserved and calculated and had powerful connections with both Yale and the U.S. geological Society. He was eventually the head of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale, which was financed by his one wealthy relative, his uncle, the financier and philanthropist George Peabody. Unlike Cope, Marsh was a Darwinist. Despite very different backgrounds and personalities. The one thing these men shared was a love of paleontology. The pair met for the first time in Berlin in 1864. They hung out with each other for several days and talked paleontology. And they were close enough at the start that they each named discoveries after each other. Cope named an amphibian fossil Tionis Martius in honor of Marsh, and Marsh returned the favor by naming a marine fossil Mosasaurus copianus. At the time of their first meeting, Western Europe was the hotbed of paleontology research. Because of the number of discoveries being made. However, that distinction soon moved to North America. When they returned to the United States, things between them changed. And it isn't certain what caused the rift between the two men, but it stemmed from at least one of two events which took place in 1868. The first event was a visit to a quarry in New Jersey that was an incredible fossil find. An attorney and amateur paleontologist named William Parker Fulk discovered the first full dinosaur fossil in the United States. He had found the Hadrosaurus. Cope was managing the pit and the fossils were being sent to him for his collection. But after the visit, Marsh secretly contacted the pit manager and bribed him to send him the fossils found in the pit, not Cope. And this made Cope furious. The other event had to do with a large fossil that was on display at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, where Cope was the director. It was an almost full intact skeleton of an Elasmosaurus. The Elasmosaurus is a very long aquatic reptile with a long neck and a long tail. Cope had put the skull of the dinosaur on the shorter of the two ends, assuming that the tail had to be the longer end. Marsh publicly humiliated Cope by pointing out that he had put the skull at the end of the tail, not the neck. These events began a deep seated hatred between the two men, which would last for the rest of their lives. The feud between the two in the late 19th century became known as the Bone War. Beyond the events of 1868, there were major personal differences between the two that fueled the rivalry Cope, being the wealthier of the two and having a better upbringing, didn't think that Marsh was very much a gentleman. Marsh, with the superior education of the two, didn't think that Cope was a very good scientist. Much of the competition between the two ended up taking place in the American West. Both Cope and Marsh organized separate expeditions to fossil rich regions in the American west, such as Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The newly expanding railways allowed for easier access to these areas, and both men hired teams to dig up as many fossils as possible. Marsh initially hired Cope's diggers away from him by offering them higher wages, an early example of the cutthroat tactics that would characterize the Bone Wars. One of the most infamous and destructive episodes of the Bone wars unfolded during the expeditions at Como Bluff, a prominent ridge between Rock river and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The area had been reported to contain massive fossil deposits, drawing the attention of both Marsh and Cope. Informants initially tipped off Marsh about the site, and in response, he paid them for exclusive information. However, the informants felt coerced into the deal and were further frustrated when Marsh's payment, a check made out to their pseudonyms instead of their real names, couldn't be cashed. Despite this rocky start, Marsh sent his team to the area where they, alongside the informants, uncovered fossils of dinosaurs now iconic to modern audiences, including Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus and Allosaurus. Marsh attempted to keep the discovery of Como Bluff under wraps, but news quickly leaked, eventually reaching Cope. One of Marsh's disgruntled informants, embittered by his dealings with Marsh, switched sides and began working for Cope. This sparked a fierce rivalry, with both paleontologists organizing multiple summer expeditions to the site. Accounts suggest that the teams frequently sabotaged each other's work, hid or buried dig sites after use to prevent further excavation by rivals, and even destroyed smaller fossils to ensure that the other couldn't benefit from them. The competition between the two men spilled into the pages of academic journals. Both scientists frequently published rushed descriptions of new species to claim priority. The competition for naming rights resulted in numerous errors and misidentifications. For example, Marsh put a Brachiosaurus head on a Brontosaurus skeleton. This rush to publish also led to public disputes, with each accusing the other of mistakes, fraud and misconduct. Their feuds were often aired in scientific journals and popular press, diminishing their credibility amongst their peers. One example of this is that Cope tried to buy up every copy of the journal where Marsh corrected his mistake about the Elasmosaurus. In 1873, the journal the American Naturalist banned Both men because they no longer wanted to take part in their public feud. They wrote, the controversy between the authors in question has come to be a personal one. And because the naturalist is not called upon to devote further space to its consideration, the continuance of the subject will be allowed only in the form of an appendix at the expense of the author. In 1878, Cope just bought the journal so he could use it as his own private platform where Marsh would be banned. By the 1880s, Marsh was clearly winning the war between the two men. Despite Cope originally having a larger fortune, he had spent most everything in the pursuit of getting fossils and competing with Marsh. Marsh, on the other hand, now had the sizable endowment of the Peabody Museum and Yale University behind him. He was able to outspend Cope, opening more dig sites and hiring more men. In addition to these two competitors, other players, including Harvard University, also entered the pitcher. While Marsh may have taken the lead in their competition in the 1880s, that didn't stop the fighting. They continued to take potshots at each other, in public and in private. By 1890, the feud had started to gain the attention of the greater media. The New York Herald that year wrote a story titled Scientists Wage Bitter Warfare. What had been a fight inside the paleontology community now spilled out into the public, and it had become an embarrassment for the entire discipline. Many people in the field began to disassociate themselves from both men. Perhaps the oddest chapter in this story is what happened in 1897. Edward Drinker's Cope will contained a peculiar and final challenge to his lifelong rival, Othniel Charles Marsh. Cope, always eager to prove his intellectual superiority, left instructions for his skull to be donated to science, with the suggestion that his brain size be measured and compared to Marsh's, should Marsh agree to do the same. Cope believed that brain size correlated with superior intelligence and wanted to prove, even after death, that he was Marsh's superior. After his death in 1897, Cope's skull was donated to the University of Pennsylvania, where it remains to this day. Marsh, for his part, declined to take part in the post mortem brainweighing and was buried after his death in 1899. The Bone wars left a complicated legacy. On the one hand, the two men contributed significantly to the early field of paleontology by unearthing vast numbers of fossils that provided the foundation for future research. 136 new species of dinosaurs were discovered between the two men. In no small part, many of their discoveries were made because of the competition between them. However, their personal vendetta also led to scientific errors, wasted resources and damage to important fossil sites. In some cases, rare and valuable fossils were destroyed so they couldn't fall into the hands of their opponent. Today, the Bone wars serve as a cautionary tale and an early chapter in the story of paleontology, illustrating the dangers of unchecked competition instead of cooperation and the importance of ethical standards in scientific research. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiefer. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day and also Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links to Everything are in the show.

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Notes.