Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of Paleontology in Yale College and President of the National Academy of Sciences.

Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education thanks to the generosity of his wealthy uncle George Peabody.

From the 1870s to 1890s, he competed with rival paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in a period of frenzied Western American expeditions known as the Bone Wars.

Jewett had been drawn to the area by the fossils unearthed by the enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the two would hunt and prospect for specimens together.

[10] Othniel was undecided as to what he would do for a living, but the course of his future was dramatically changed due to the intervention of his uncle George Peabody, who was a successful banker.

[8] He was initially an unremarkable student, devoting much of his time to leisure and games, but the next year decided to focus on his studies.

He ran his letter to George Peabody asking for the funds by Aunt Judith first, who disapprovingly noted it contained two spelling errors.

[18][19] Marsh graduated eighth in his class, using a scholarship he won for the best examination in Greek to finance a masters degree from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, as he developed an interest in becoming a professor of science.

[18][20] Following school, Marsh declined a professorship at Yale[21][c] and instead took a tour of Europe; it is possible the trip was to avoid being drafted into the American Civil War, although he might have also been disqualified from service on account of his eyesight.

[3] Marsh traveled through England, France, Germany, and Switzerland, studying with or making the acquaintance of prominent scientists such as Heinrich Ernst Beyrich, Wilhelm Peters, Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg and Henry Woodward.

[23][24][25] While studying at the University of Berlin in late 1863, the 32-year-old Marsh first met 25-year-old Edward Drinker Cope, who was also on a scientific tour of Europe.

[35] Marsh organized a series of private expeditions starting in 1870 to 1874, with the prospecting groups composed of Yale students or recent graduates.

[37] When Cope began prospecting for fossils in the Bridger Basin, which Marsh considered "his" territory, their relationship deteriorated into hostility.

These skeletons helped bridge the gap between dinosaurs and birds, and provided invaluable support for Darwin's theory of evolution.

He also named the families Allosauridae (1878), Anchisauridae (1885), Camptosauridae (1885), Ceratopsidae (1890), Ceratosauridae, Coeluridae, Diplodocidae (1884), Dryptosauridae (1890), Nodosauridae (1890), Ornithomimidae (1890), Plateosauridae (1895), and Stegosauridae (1880).

Marsh dubbed many additional species of dinosaur as well, notable taxa including Allosaurus fragilis, Triceratops horridus, Stegosaurus stenops, Ornithomimus velox, and Brontosaurus excelsus.

Marsh's finds formed the original core of the collection of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History.

[49][50][51] Some other Marsh taxa like Camarasaurus lentus, Nanosaurus agilis, and Camptosaurus dispar are also represented in the Peabody fossil hall.

On December 15, 2023, McSweeney's published the piece “IT’S A COMEDIAN’S JOB TO MAKE FUN OF EVERYBODY, AND THAT’S WHY MY ACT IS ENTIRELY ABOUT 1880s PALEONTOLOGIST OTHNIEL MARSH”, by Anthony Scibelli.