Edward Drinker Cope was born on July 28, 1840, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist who discovered approximately a thousand species of extinct vertebrates in the United States and led a revival of Lamarckian evolutionary theory, based on paleontological views. After a brief period at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, as Professor of Comparative Zoology and Botany (1864–1867), Cope devoted 22 years to exploration and research. Most of this time was spent in the discovery and description of extinct fishes, reptiles, and mammals of the western United States, from Texas to Wyoming. In 1863–1864 during the American Civil War, Cope travelled through Europe, taking the opportunity to visit the most esteemed museums and societies of the time. He also served as a paleontologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the editor and publisher of The American Naturalist. Financial difficulties compelled him to accept a position on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania (1889–1897). Among his 1,200 books and papers are “Reptilia and Aves of North America” (1869–70) and “Relation of Man to Tertiary Mammalia” (1875). In 1872, he was made a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences and in 1878 of the Societé Géologique de France. The Bigsby gold medal of the Geological Society of London was awarded to him in 1879. In 1886, he was elected a member of the Imperial Society of Moscow and received the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Heidelberg.

In 1865, he married Annie Pim (1841-1933). He died on April 12, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He donated his body to scientific research.