IN 1787, SOMEONE ien—found anenormous tig out of a stream bank at a place called oodbury Creek. t belong to any species of creature still alive, certainly not in New Jersey.

        From tle is kno is t to o a    time, dinosaurs were unknown.

        t to Dr. Caspar istar, tion’s leading anatomist, a meeting of ty in P autumn. Unfortunately,istar failed pletely tiousand uninspired remarks to t t it ed so little i it    in a storeroom aually disappeared altogether.

        So t dinosaur bone ever found    to be lost.

        t t attract greater i is more ttle puzzling, for its appearancecame at a time    about tanimals. trange assertion by t Frencuralist te de Buffon—ed sper—t living to te in    and muceemed oire Naturelle , agnant, tive, and t size or, titutions rose from its rotting ss. Insuc even tive Indians lacked virility. “tive ans were“small and feeble.”

        Buffon’s observations found surprisingly eager support among oters, especiallyt plicated by actual familiarity ry. ADutative Ameri males    only reproductivelyunimposing, but “so lag in virility t ts.” Sud could be foued or ecexts tilleentury.

        Not surprisingly, sucly met in America. ted a furious (and, uext is uood, quite betal in es on tate of Virginia , and induced o send ty soldiers into to find a bull moose to present to Buffon asproof of tature and majesty of Ameri quadrupeds. It took to trackdoable subject. t, unfortunately lacked tJefferson    Sullivan tfully included a rack of antlers from an elk    ion t ttacead. er all, would know?

        Meany—naturalists o assemble t elep-like creature kno first as “t Ameri initum” but lateridentified, not quite correctly, as a mammot of ta place called Big Bone Li Kentucky, but soon    up all over. America,it appeared, ruly substantial creature—o ions.

        In to demonstrate tum’s bulk and ferocity, turalists appear to ly carried aimated its size by afactor of six and gave it frig came from a Megalonyx, iantground slot ty and ferocity of tiger,” and portrayed it in illustrations as poungo prey from boulders. usks otive orer screusks in upsidedooot, isfyingly aggressive aspect.

        Anotusks so t t ture id o ao trees i sideration about tum,    it appeared to be extinct—afact t Buffon testably degee nature.

        Buffon died in 1788, but troversy rolled on. In 1795 a sele of bones made to Paris, ology, tocratic Gees Cuvier. Cuvier akingiculated bones and    ure of an animal from a siooten    no one in America    to ea formal description of t, Cuvier did so, and ts officialdiscoverer.    a mastodoh”).

        Inspired by troversy, in 1796 Cuvier e a landmark paper, Note on ts, in    time a formal tins.    from time to time tastropures . Fious people, including Cuvier able implications si suggested an unatable casualness on t of Provideo e species only to    later? tion rary to t C t every living t    abide t t o vaniso t, to evolve). So    to    t be stifid political value in sending a party to explore terior of Americabeyond t at trepid adventurers sized creatures grazing on teous plains.

        Jefferson’s personal secretary and trusted friend Meriuralist for tioo advise    to look out foro animals living and deceased ar.

        In t, t tocratid celebrated Cuvier ion t into t ions. illiam Smitru on tCoal al. On tting in a coa t ually make ation. to interpret rocks,to be some means of correlation, a basis on    t o realize t t every crata certainspecies of fossils disappeared    levels. By noting a, you could    tive ages of roake a map ofBritain’s rock strata, rials in 1815 and one of meology. (tory is preer’s popular book t ately, , Smiterested in uanding trata and tent myself    it is so,”    e he Province of a Mineral Surveyor.”

        Smitiarding    strata    eins. to begin    firmed t God    creatures not occasionally butrepeatedly. t so mucile. It also made itinvely necessary to explain    o succeeding eons. Clearly to extins ted for by a single Noacter to isfa by suggesting t Genesis applied only to t retinundation. God, it appeared,    ract or alarm Moses    extins.

        So by teentury, fossils aken on a certain inescapableimportance, o see tunate. Suddenly, in any case, bones urning up all over. Several otunities arose for Ameris to claim t all ed. In1806 tion passed tion in Montana, anarea er literally trip over dinosaur bones, and even examined failed to make anyt. Otprints icut River Valley of Neer a farm boy named Plinus Moody spied aracks on a rock ledge at Soutts. Some of t least survive—notably tion of t Yale. Found in 1818, tdinosaur boo be examined and saved, but unfortunately    reized for il 1855. In t same year, 1818, Caspar istar died, but ainued immortality    all named a deliger anical purists still insist on spelling it aria .

        By time, ological momentum o England. In 1812, atLyme Regis on t coast, araordinary , depending e fossilized seamonster, seventee long and noeep anddangerous cliffs along the English el.

        It art of a remarkable career. Anning    ty-five yearsgato visitors. (So be toer “Splesiosaurus, anoter, and one of t a pterodactyls. tec    terribly relevant at time sinobody t a dinosaur     turesstrikingly unlike anyt now find.

        It    simply t Anning    spotting fossils—tt—but t sract test delicad    damage. If youever o visit t mariiles at tural ory Museumin London, I urge you to take it for to appreciate ty ofually unaided    basic tools innearly impossible ditions. took en years of patient excavation.

        Altrained, Anning o provide petent draions forsc even age of    finds were rare and s of y.

        It ory of paleontology t in fact tell and ry doctor in Sussex.

        Mantell ed amateur paleontologist. o ed and observant    in rural Sussex, Mrs. Mantell    for a stroll do    to fill pot—a curved broone,about t. Kno in fossils, and tmigook it to ell could see at o ootera little study became certain t it    remely large—tens of feet long—and from taceous period.    on allts, but t had been seen before or evenimagined.

        A irely upend ood about t, and urgedby al appetite—to proceed ion, Mantell devoted taking years to seeking evideosupport    tooto Cuvier in Paris for an opinion, but tFrenc as being from a amus. (Cuvier later apologized eristic error.) One day erian Museum inLondon, Mantell fell into versation old ootudying, Soutyparison firmed tell’s creature became Iguanodon , aftera basking tropical lizard to    in any manner related.

        Mantell prepared a paper for delivery to ty. Unfortunately it emerged tanot a quarry in Oxfords been formallydescribed—by t to work in e.

        It ually suggested to Bud by his friend Dr.

        James Parkinson, t maybe recalled,    a geologist, and    , for transas of ty of Londo ture’steet attacly to t placed in sockets in t iced to realize    meant:

        Megalosaurus irely neype of creature. So alt demonstrated littleacuity or insig ill t publision of a dinosaur, and so to ell goes t for t line ofbeings.

        Una disappoi o be a tinuiure of elltinued ing for fossils—, til    fossilcolle in Britain. Mantell    doctor and equally gifted bone er, but o support botalents. As ing mania greon and ed muc    to undering tion of books t feoorations of ty copies a of pocket—an unfortably substantial sum for times.

        In some desperation Mantell    on turning o a museum andcedly realized t suc leman, not to mention as a stist, and so o visit ter ing botid ually o sell most of ion to pay off s. Soon after,    aking th her.

        Remarkably, roubles    beginning.

        In trict of Syden a place called Crystal Palace Park, tands a strange and fotten sig life-sized models of dinosaurs. Not manypeople travel t o popular attras inLondon—in effect, as Ricey ed, t te a lotabout t strictly correct. ts nose,as a kind of spike, and it stands on four sturdy legs, making it look like a ratout anda crouc    t tscould cause great rancor and bitterness, but tural ory    ter of fiercer and more enduri beasts knownas dinosaurs.

        At time of tru, Sydensspacious park o re-erect tal Palace, t-iron structure t erpiece of t Exion of 1851, and fromook its    of crete, tra. On Ney-one promistists ified t among t table est star of tology. ime ed several productive years to making Gideon Mantell’s lifehell.

        Orained as a doctor.

        omist and so devoted to udies t imes illicitly borros from cadavers and took tion.

        Once    removed, O cobble and ctage, o rest int parlor.    ts o say upon finding an unattaco a at t    only be imagined. One assumes t t formed any terriblyadvanced clusions    later, a fraugrieved t again.

        In 1825, aged just ty-one, Oo London and soon after o ensive, but disordered, colles ofmedical and anatomical spes. Most of t to titution by Joer, a distinguisireless collector of medical curiosities, but alogued anized, largely because ter er’s death.

        Oly distinguision aion. At time o be a peerless anatomist incts for restruost on a par    Cuvier in Paris.    on tomy ofanimals t ed first refusal on any animal t died at to ion. Once urned o find a fres    on all kinds of animals living ainct—from platypuses,eco tinct giantbirds called moas t il eaten out of existence by t to describe teryx after its discovery in Bavaria in 1861 and tto e a formal epitapogetomicalpapers, a prodigious output.

        But it    means “terrible lizard” and    name. Dinosaurs, as all terrible—some s and probably extremelyretiring—and t empically     tures ilian and    ly good Greek    for some reasonc to use it. Anoty of spes at time) dinosaurs stitute not o tiles: the lizard-hipped sauriss.

        O an attractive person, in appearance or in temperament. A pogrape middle years s and sinister, like torianmelodrama,    scruple in tions. o e. Even Owen’s son (wer killed o able ess of .”

        ed gifts as an anatomist allo a barefaceddisies. In 1857, turalist t. ion ofCory    Oed as Professor ofparative Anatomy and P t S al error, old t tion o them by Dr.

        O named    Oaki for one of o a bitter dispute ist over tfor a teeth.

        ate to persecute t ty to blackball a young man named Rrant . Grant oniso discover to tomical spes o duct o pursue o an uandably dispirited obscurity.

        But no one suffered more from Otentions tragic Gideon Mantell. After losing id most of ion, Mantell moved to London. teful yearin    glory for naming and identifying tell errible act. , greangled in t a gallop    left , crippled, and in ch a spine damaged beyond repair.

        Capitalizing    on    Mantell’s    enfeebled    state, O about systematically expungingMantell’s tributions from t Mantell    for tell tio try to dinal researc Oy to e most of ed. In 1852, uo bear any more pain or perseaook    to t orof terian Museum.

        But ts    quite finiser Mantell’s deatingly uncableobituary appeared in terary Gazette. In it Mantell omist ributions to paleontology ed by a “ of exaouary even removed ted it io Cuvier and Oyle ural sces doubted thorship.

        By tage, ransgressions o catctee of ty—a ittee of en on ainct mollusc called te. “es in ory of terrible Lizard, “t quite asinal as it appeared.” te, it turned out, eur naturalist named Ced ata meeting of ty. O meeting, but failed to mentionted a report of o ty—in ally,eure Belemnites o a permaarnisation, even amongers.

        Eventually o do to Oed off ties. As a final insult erian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons.

        Oant researc tter edto one uionable pursuit for ion of tisy ion of London’s Natural ory Museum. ton, opened in 1880, is almost entirely a testament to his vision.

        Before Oion of te, a    to gain access. In tisivevisitors o make a ten application and undergo a brief intervieo determine if t to be admitted at all. to return a sed time to pick up a ticket—t isassuming tervieime to viereasures. Even t alloolinger. Oo o t of encing o visit in to devote most of to public displays. o put informative labels on eac people couldappreciate    uedly, . h.

        museums situtes. By making tural ory Museum an institution for everyone, Oransformed our expectations ofw museums are for.

        Still, ruism in general to    official acts o lobby against a proposal to erect a statue inmemory of    belated,ient triumpoday atue ands a masterly vieaircase of tural ory Museum, ravely over peoplesnag on cups of tea and jam dougs.

        It o suppose t Ricty rivalries marked tof eentury paleontology, but in fae, time from overseas. InAmeri tury tacularlyvenomous, if not quite as destructive. It range and ruthniel Charles Marsh.

        tered, quarrelsome, jealous,mistrustful, and ever unology.

        tual friends and admirers, even naming fossil species after eac a pleasant oget e sure yt o ing red over t ty years. It is probably safe to sayt no tural sces her more.

        Marstle time in tfinding t to to notice t orian, “lyingevery anyted. Alt background—ate Ne financier Gee Peabody. erest in natural ory, Peabody    for    Yale andprovided funds suffit for Marso fill it    ook his fancy.

        Cope ly into privilege—urous of tana er and roops    do Little Big ing for bones nearby.    ed out to    t t prudent time to be taking treasures from Indian lands, Cope t fora minute and decided to press on any one point o a party of suspicious Cro o edlytaking out and replag eeth.

        For a decade or so, Marsual dislike primarily took tsniping, but in 1877 it erupted into grandiose dimensions. In t year a Coloradosceac h a friend.

        Reizing tic saurian,” Lakes tfully dispatco boted Cope sent Lakes a rouble and asked    to tell anyone of o pass to Cope. Mars it    t .

        It also marked tart of a    became increasingly bitter,underen ridiculous. times stooped to oeam’s diggers t team’s. Cope    jimmying open crates t belooMarsed ead eacs.

        Seldom—perly and successfully byanimosity. Over t several years to almost 150. Nearly every dinosaur t tegosaurus, brontosaurus, diplodocus, triceratops—hem.

        1Unfortunately, te t tenfailed to    a neo “discover” a species calledUintaty-times. Ittook years to sort out some of tion messes t sorted outyet.

        Of tific legacy ial. In a breatrious career, e some 1,400 learned papers and described almost 1,300 neypes, not just dinosaurs)—more tput in bot    unfortunately    into a ratatedest in er years. ed a fortune in 1875, ed urast finiser.

        Iing obsession. It became ype spe for is, t    for type spe of a species is t set of1table exception being tyrannosaurus rex, which was found by Barnum Brown in 1902.

        bones found, but sino first set of s, to fill. It ooppose it. to t end, Cope ar Institute, a learned society inPs of tar.

        Unfortunately, after     t sypure one ype spefor one’s oition and ly sill notype spe for modern humans.

        As for tic asylum in Clap far from well .

        Mantell’s ted spine remained on display at terian Museum for nearly a turybefore being mercifully obliterated by a German bomb in tz.    remained ofMantell’s colle after o    aken to Neer became a distinguisually attaining ter of Native Affairs. In 1865 ed tion, including tooto ton,    started it all—arguably t important tootology—is no longer on display.

        Of course din didn’t end    eentury fossilers. Io a surprisient it    begun. In 1898, t fellbetrove greater by far ticed, really—at a place called Bone    Quarry, only a fe o Bluff, yoming. to be found    of t, tsomeone    a    out of t t t bones ed from te, and tens of t followed.

        t is t by turn of tietury, paleontologists erally tons ofold boo pick over. t till didn’t    fortably support t t obviously tained. If Earty million years old or so, as t Lord Kelvin insisted, t creatures must o being and go again practically in tant. It just made no sense.

        Otists besides Kelvin turo tst only deepeainty. Samuel on, a respected geologist at trinity Collegein Dublin, announced aimated age for ting. o tention, edusing ta and put t 153 million years. Jorinity, decidedto give Edmond s idea a ions t . ed t t fit ly enougions but unfortunately not y.

        Suc by teentury, depending on    you sulted, you could learn t t stood bet range. As late as 1910, one of t respected estimates, by t t pertle as 55 million years.

        Just    intractably fused, along came anotraordinaryfigure    ty able evide leastmany her more.

        Remarkably, ural, spontaneous, stificallycredible, and    al, it turned out,    beenso er all. Aly    came to be is of course anotory.
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