The Bone Wars, or the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense competition between American paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh between 1877 and 1892. Each of the scientists attempted to outdo and sabotage each other’s research using all manner of underhanded, illegal, and offensive methods. Although a great many species were described during this time, there was also significant destruction and falsification of fossils, taxonomic confusion, academic slander, harm to Native American communities, and numerous other crimes due to the bitter competitiveness between Cope and Marsh. Ultimately, both paleontologists were socially and financially ruined by their efforts, but left behind numerous specimens, many still in unopened boxes after they died.
