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 born in Philadelphia, USA. He is remembered more as a paleontologist and herpetologist than an ichthyologist. He nevertheless described over 300 species of fishes between 1862 and 1894.
Cope was a founder of the Neo-Lamarckism school of thought. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen. Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams.
Cope, Edward D. 1871. "Contribution to the ichthyology of the Marañon". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 11:559-570 (crc00071)
Cope, Edward D. 1872. "On the Fishes of the Ambyiacu River". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 250-294 (crc00074)
Cope, Edward D. 1878. "Synopsis of the fishes of the Peruvian Amazon, obtained by Professor Orton during his expeditions of 1873 and 1877". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 17(101):673-701 (crc01636)
Cope, Edward D. 1894. "On the fishes obtained by the Naturalist Expedition in Rio Grande do Sul". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 33:84-108 (crc01050)