Originally published in 1966, this is a new updated edition describing the discovery and analysis of one of the largest assemblages of dinosaur and Jurassic mammal fossils in 1896. Since the first publication, further excavation has taken place at Como Bluff, Wyoming, which has produced new discoveries that hint at what still may be buried there. A detailed history of the excitements and disappointments of the long excavation campaign during the second half of the 19th century includes many extracts from letters, contemporary sketches and reproductions of most of the original lithographs. This is as much a history of palaeontology as it is a reappraisal of the fossil remains.

Relates the competition between Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope to discover more fossils, name more species, and publish more papers that brought out the best and worst in them and provided the world with a new view of life on Earth.

Tells the story of two nineteenth-century paleontologists who used questionable tactics as they tried to outdo each other in collecting dinosaur bones.

Edward Drinker Cope was a charming man with a passion for old bones. Othniel Marsh was a stickler for procedure when he studied his fossil finds. They started as friends, sharing ideas and information, but after Marsh tried to poach Cope's digging site, they became bitter enemies. Their decades-long feud fueled their desire to dig up more bones, to discover new species, and to find ever bigger and more unusual dinosaurs. Through their competition, the two men laid a far-reaching foundation for the brand-new field of palentology. A fascinating story told with an engaging narrative technique, and well complemented by period photographs and drawings, a map, a time line, and an author's note.

It was an age of counterfeit giants, corrupt politicians, and intrepid pioneers. It was a time of scientific ferment. The second half of the 19th century — the so-called Gilded Age — was a time when Americans were exploring the West and building a nation which stretched from coast to coast. It was also when scientists began finding dinosaur fossils across the western half of the nation. Could the answer to the history of life and the proof of evolution be found in these bones? That was the question two young American paleontologists — Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh — set out to answer. But what began as a friendly contest quickly turned into a bitter rivalry that would spill over into American science and politics and rage relentlessly for nearly three decades. Despite their Gilded Age celebrity, the names of Cope and Marsh have disappeared into the recesses of the library and archive. InThe Gilded Dinosaur, Mark Jaffe exhumes from those archives the notes, journals, and letters of these two great opponents to reanimate and retell one of the most fierce rivalries in the history of science.

Foreword by Matthew C. Lamanna New Afterword by Tom Rea Less than one hundred years ago, Diplodocus carnegii—named after industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie—was the most famous dinosaur on the planet. The most complete fossil skeleton unearthed to date, and one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered, Diplodocus was displayed in a dozen museums around the world and viewed by millions of people. Bone Wars explains how a fossil unearthed in the badlands of Wyoming in 1899 helped give birth to the public’s fascination with prehistoric beasts. Rea also traces the evolution of scientific thought regarding dinosaurs and reveals the double-crosses and behind-the-scenes deals that marked the early years of bone hunting. With the help of letters found in scattered archives, Tom Rea recreates a remarkable story of hubris, hope, and turn-of-the-century science. He focuses on the roles of five men: Wyoming fossil hunter Bill Reed; paleontologists Jacob Wortman—in charge of the expedition that discovered Carnegie’s dinosaur—and John Bell Hatcher; William Holland, imperious director of the recently founded Carnegie Museum; and Carnegie himself, smitten with the colossal animals after reading a story in the New York Journal and Advertiser. What emerges is the picture of an era reminiscent of today: technology advancing by leaps and bounds; the press happy to sensationalize anything that turned up; huge amounts of capital ending up in the hands of a small number of people; and some devoted individuals placing honest research above personal gain.