Marsh, Othniel Charles (1831-1899), was an American paleontologist. He is known for his discoveries and descriptions of many famous dinosaur fossils. Many of his fossil discoveries are displayed at the Peabody Museum at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The museum was founded in 1866 with funds from Marsh’s uncle, the wealthy merchant and financier George Peabody.
Marsh was born on Oct. 29, 1831, in Lockport, New York. With support from his uncle, he attended Yale University (called Yale College at that time) to pursue his interest in natural history, graduating in 1860. He earned his master’s degree from Yale in 1862. That same year, he traveled to Europe, where he met with some of the greatest European scientists of the time, including Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, and Thomas Huxley. In 1866, Marsh became professor of paleontology at the Sheffield School of Science (now part of Yale University). In 1867, he became curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History.
In 1868, Marsh first visited sites in Nebraska and Wyoming where remains of prehistoric animals had been discovered and reported. From 1870 to 1873, Marsh led four expeditions to the American West, where he oversaw the discovery and collection of hundreds of fossils. Many of the fossils were from prehistoric species new to science. Marsh published descriptions and gave scientific names to some of the most famous dinosaur species known, including Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops.
For much of his career, Marsh engaged in a bitter feud with rival paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope. In the course of this feud, often referred to as the “Bone Wars,” the two mocked one another and exchanged many insults in their attempts to outshine each other. In one instance, Marsh ridiculed Cope’s published description of Elasmosaurus, a type of plesiosaur. Over the following years, the two men competed ruthlessly to discover, describe, and name new species of prehistoric animals and damage the other’s professional standing. The men and their teams often resorted to questionable methods to outdo each other. They often assigned new scientific names to species based on incomplete fossil remains, resulting in many mistakes.
During his career, Marsh published about 300 scientific papers and books. He described and assigned scientific names to about 500 new species of prehistoric animals that he and his collectors discovered. As a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, Marsh established a committee to improve the collection of geological information for the government. The committee’s report led Congress to establish the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1879. Marsh served as official paleontologist of the USGS from 1882 until his death. He served as president of the U.S. National Academy of the Sciences from 1883 to 1895. He died on Mar. 18, 1899, in New Haven.
