Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) was a prominent American paleontologist known for his extensive contributions to the field and his intense rivalry with fellow paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope. Born in Lockport, New York, Marsh developed an early interest in fossils, which was nurtured by a chance meeting with Colonel Ezekiel Jewett, an amateur fossil hunter. He received a solid education with support from his wealthy uncle, George Peabody, enabling him to study at Phillips Academy and later at Yale University, where he became a pivotal figure in establishing paleontology as a respected scientific discipline.
Marsh's career was marked by numerous significant fossil discoveries, including well-known dinosaur species such as Triceratops and Allosaurus. He organized and led several expeditions into the American West, contributing extensively to the paleontological record. Despite his scientific achievements, Marsh's legacy is complicated by his contentious relationship with Cope, characterized by competitive tactics that included espionage and public embarrassment of his rival. His influence helped elevate Yale University as a center for paleontological research, and he played a crucial role in furthering the acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution. Marsh's work ultimately expanded the known dinosaur species from 18 to over 130, leaving a lasting impact on the field of paleontology.
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Othniel Charles Marsh
- Born: October 29, 1831
- Birthplace: Lockport, New York
- Died: March 18, 1899
- Place of death: New Haven, Connecticut
American paleontologist
Nineteenth-century American paleontologist Othniel Marsh was a pioneer of American paleontological exploration. He provided important contributions to the study of dinosaurs and other extinct species. Marsh’s professional and personal rivalry with fellow paleontologist E. D. Cope helped to define the gilded age of paleontology in the United States.
Born: October 29, 1831; Lockport, New York
Died: March 18, 1899; New Haven, Connecticut
Primary field: Natural history
Specialty: Paleontology
Early Life
Othniel Charles Marsh was born in 1831 in Lockport, New York, the son of Caleb Marsh, a struggling shoe manufacturer and farmer. His mother, Mary Gaines Peabody Marsh, died from cholera before Marsh reached the age of three. Marsh’s father intended for him to take over the family farm. However, Marsh developed an interest in paleontology as a boy, exploring the fossil beds of the Erie Canal. Around 1841, Marsh met Colonel Ezekiel Jewett, a retired army officer and amateur fossil hunter, who educated Marsh about fossils and how to find them.
Marsh had little interest in farming. At age twenty-one, he used the money he received from his mother’s wealthy family after her death to attend the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Marsh excelled as a student, focusing on science and chemistry. Marsh’s maternal uncle, the millionaire philanthropist George Peabody, was impressed by Marsh’s academic achievements, and helped pay for his education. Marsh graduated from Phillips Academy in 1856, after which Peabody agreed to fund his further education at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Marsh would spend the remainder of his life at the university.
When Marsh enrolled as a freshman, Yale was in the process of developing its college of sciences with an emerging focus on paleontology. He studied geology with prominent geologist James Dwight Dana and chemist Benjamin Silliman Jr. March graduated in 1860 near the top of his class and enrolled at Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School, which opened in 1861. He received his master’s degree in 1862 and then traveled to Europe, where he spent three years engaging in postgraduate research. Marsh studied at the University of Berlin, where he focused on vertebrate paleontology, and then at the University of Breslau. Marsh returned to Yale in 1865, where he was appointed professor of geology and vertebrate paleontology, a position created uniquely for him and designed to correspond with the professorship of paleontology held by Luis Agassiz at Harvard University.
Life’s Work
In 1861, Marsh published his first paleontological article for the Geological Society of London. He also undertook several research projects with Agassiz, who was a pioneer paleontologist. Marsh made several fossil discoveries and established a reputation as a talented fossil hunter.
One of Marsh’s most lasting accomplishments came not from his direct academic achievements, but from his influence in establishing Yale University as one of the nation’s foremost centers of paleontological research. As Marsh was completing his studies and beginning his career as a paleontologist, he frequently communicated with his uncle, who was in the process of determining the dispensation of his fortune upon his death. Peabody determined that he would fund the creation of academic institutions in several cities and had already given generously to Harvard University, where numerous members of his family had been educated. In the early 1860s, Marsh began working with his uncle to raise funding to establish a scientific research center at Yale University.
Marsh and his former professors Silliman and Dana created a plan for the Yale Museum of Natural Sciences. Peabody agreed to bequeath an endowment to Yale University in his will and officially gifted $150,000 for the establishment of the Yale museum in October of 1866. Peabody also gave Marsh an additional $3,500 to purchase fossil specimens, cases, and other necessary equipment.
Marsh’s early paleontological expeditions produced significant evidence regarding the fossil history of the horse group in North America, as well as significant discoveries of extinct reptiles and birds. His work helped to further Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and, as such, Marsh’s research became a crucial part of lectures delivered by both Darwin and his strongest supporter, evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley.
Marsh’s personal and professional rivalry with Pennsylvanian paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope dominates records of Marsh’s career. The two paleontologists met while Marsh was a graduate student in Germany, and they quickly became friends, even naming species they discovered in each other’s honor. When Cope discovered a specimen of the marine reptile Elasmosaurus he published a paper on the subject, based on an incorrect reconstruction of the animal, placing the skull at the end of the tail, rather than the neck. When Cope showed the specimen to Marsh, Marsh identified the mistake and called it to the attention of Joseph Leidy, who confirmed Cope’s mistaken reconstruction. Though Cope attempted to stop the publication of his erroneous reconstruction, Marsh spread word of the mistake, causing Cope considerable professional embarrassment.
In 1870, Marsh led the first Yale University fossil expedition into the American West. Though he only participated in four expeditions personally, from 1870 to 1873, he continued to oversee and organize paleontological expeditions. He remained at Yale to receive and describe new specimens. In 1871, an expedition led by Marsh discovered the first specimen of a Pterodactylus, a flying reptile of the Mesozoic Period. Marsh’s expeditions to Jurassic bone beds led to the discovery of several of the most well-known North American dinosaur species including Triceratops, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, and Apatosaurus (commonly but redundantly known as Brontosaurus).
This period also saw an intensification of the rivalry between Marsh and Cope. Both scientists led expeditions to Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, resulting in, the discovery of hundreds of new dinosaur, mammal and reptile species. In their quest to outdo one another, Cope published poorly researched papers that lacked scientific rigor. Marsh used bribery and espionage to follow Cope’s progress while simultaneously using his superior connections to promote his own discoveries over those of his rival.
During his career, Marsh discovered nearly five hundred species, making him one of the most prolific paleontologists in history. With the death of his uncle in 1869, Marsh received a substantial inheritance, which allowed him to leave teaching. With his inheritance, Marsh built an extensive mansion in New Haven, which he later left to Yale University, where he lived a relatively comfortable life, having no family to provide for.
Marsh’s political savvy helped him to obtain a position as president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1883 to 1895, which helped to make him one of the most prominent figures in American paleontology. In 1882, he also became the official paleontologist for the US Geological Survey, and was the first paleontologist appointed to a position in the US government. From this post, Marsh attempted to take possession of Cope’s fossil collection, on the basis that the fossils were collected with federal funding and were therefore the property of the government. Cope produced records indicating that he had personally funded most of his expeditions and then told newspapers that Marsh was misusing federal funds. In the wake of the scandal, Marsh was expelled from the government and lost a large portion of his fossil collection, which was appropriated by the government.
Impact
Though Marsh made significant discoveries that have left a lasting mark on American paleontology, his legacy is inextricably tied to his rivalry with Cope and to the scientific failings that resulted from the two men’s obsession with besting each other. Marsh’s critics accused him of using his financial and political skills instead of his scientific skills to obtain his rank in the field. In addition, there are numerous accounts of Marsh taking credit for the discoveries of his subordinates at Yale.
Marsh left a lasting legacy both by helping to establish Yale’s paleontology department and by donating what remained of his property and fossil collection to the university after his death. Marsh’s work also vastly enhanced the paleontological record, with the number of known dinosaur species increasing from 18 to more than 130 by the end of his career.
As Marsh was a fervent supporter of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, he organized and described specimens in such a way as to garner support for the theory. Over the course of his career, Marsh’s collections laid the groundwork for current theories regarding the evolution of birds, horses and a variety of other animal species.
Bibliography
Jaffe, Mark. The Gilded Dinosaur: The Fossil War Between E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh and the Rise of American Science. New York: Three Rivers, 2001. Print. Detailed account of the rivalry between Cope and Marsh provides detailed biographical information on both men. Discusses Marsh’s dinosaur discoveries and the process of building the Yale Museum. Also covers Marsh’s early work on the evolution of horses.
Schuchert, Charles, and Clara Mae Levine. O. C. Marsh: Pioneer in Paleontology. New Haven: Yale UP, 1940. Print. Provides insight into his early life, academic career, and involvement in politics. Covers the bone wars in detail as well as Marsh’s early career and interactions with his financier uncle George Peabody.
Switek, Brian. Written in Stone: The Hidden Secrets of Fossils and the Story of Life on Earth. London: Icon, 2011. Print. Covers the history of paleontology in the United States and Europe. Contains an evaluation of Marsh’s professional career and role in building American paleontology through Yale University.