Mudge discovered Ichthyornis in 1872. While he initially planned to ship the specimen to Cope, he heard of Othniel Charles Marsh's interest and sent it instead to his former acquaintance from Connecticut.
The discovery of Ichthyornis by Mudge in 1872 led to an initial plan to ship the specimen to Cope. However, upon learning about Marsh's interest, Mudge redirected the specimen to a former acquaintance from Connecticut instead.