Cope, Edward Drinker (1840-1897), was an American paleontologist. He is known for many discoveries and descriptions of important dinosaur fossils in the western United States. He is also known for his contributions to herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) and ichthyology (the study of fishes).
Cope was born on July 28, 1840, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania but never received a university degree. However, his family’s wealth allowed him to pursue his interest in natural history as an independent scholar. In 1861, he was appointed to a position at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. In 1873, he became a curator at that institution.
From 1871 to 1893, Cope oversaw several expeditions in the United States to find and collect fossil specimens of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Cope published a description of a complete fossil skeleton of a prehistoric aquatic reptile called Elasmosaurus, a kind of plesiosaur, discovered in Kansas. He later described and named Coelophysis, one of the earliest known meat-eating dinosaurs. Cope described and gave scientific names to at least 64 species of prehistoric fish, reptiles, and dinosaurs over his career. However, today paleontologists consider only some of these names to be valid. Other scientific names were determined to have been given in error or given to prehistoric creatures already known from earlier discoveries.
For much of his career, Cope engaged in a bitter feud with paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. The men competed ruthlessly to discover, describe, and name new species of prehistoric animals and damage each other’s professional standing. In the course of this feud, often referred to as the “Bone Wars,” the men and their teams often resorted to questionable methods to outdo each other. Such methods included spying on each other, bribery, and theft of fossils. Some fossils were destroyed in the field, so that a rival team could not collect them. The two sides also criticized each other in scientific papers, often including personal attacks and insults. However, the competition did lead to the discovery of many famous fossils of prehistoric animals that became important specimens in the collections at museums. Press coverage of the Bone Wars also served to generate popular interest in prehistoric life, especially dinosaurs.
Over his career, Cope published several books on natural history and more than 1,400 scientific papers. He lost most of his family fortune funding fossil expeditions and later with investments in a failed silver-mining venture. He joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 1889. He died on April 12, 1897.
