Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. He was a rival of paleontologist Othniel Marsh. In 1891, Marsh's employee John Bell Hatcher discovered Torosaurus, a species larger than Cope's most important find, Monoclonius.
Edward Drinker Cope's rivalry with Othniel Marsh greatly amused Marsh's employee, John Bell Hatcher. Hatcher shared a telegram sent to him by Marsh which called Cope "perfidious" with the patrons of the Rebel Yell Saloon, and further elaborated on the nature of the rivalry between the two paleontologists.[1]