'Othniel Charles Marsh' (
October 29,
1831 -
March 18,
1899) was one of the pre-eminent
paleontologists of the
19th century, who discovered and named many
fossils found in the
American West.
Marsh was born in
Lockport, New York. He graduated at
Yale College in 1860, and studied
geology and
mineralogy in the
Sheffield Scientific School, New Haven, and afterwards paleontology and
anatomy in
Berlin,
Heidelberg and
Breslau. He returned to the
United States in
1866 and was appointed professor of vertebrate paleontology at
Yale University. He persuaded his uncle,
George Peabody, to establish the
Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale.
In May
1871 Marsh found the first American
pterosaur fossils. He also discovered the remains of early
horses. Marsh described the remains of
Cretaceous toothed birds (such as ''
Ichthyornis'' and ''
Hesperornis'') and flying reptiles, and Cretaceous and
Jurassic dinosaurs, including ''
Apatosaurus'' and ''
Allosaurus''.
Marsh is famous for his "palaeontological battle", the so-called
Bone Wars, with
Edward Drinker Cope during the late
19th century. The two men were fierce rivals in the discovery of palaeontological specimens, discovering and describing over 120 new
species of
dinosaur between them.
Marsh died in 1899 and was interred at the
Grove Street Cemetery in
New Haven, Connecticut.
See also
★
Marsh Botanical Garden
ya pants
External links
★
Othniel Charles Marsh (1832-1899)
★
Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899)