Mary Anning

Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist. She became known around the world for her discoveries. She found fossils in Jurassic sea rock in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset, in South West England. Her findings helped change how scientists thought about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth.

Anning searched for fossils in the cliffs of Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone. She often searched in winter, when landslides uncovered new fossils. She had to collect them quickly before the sea washed them away. One of her most important finds was the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton. She found it when she was twelve years old. She also found the first two nearly complete plesiosaur skeletons, the first pterosaur skeleton found outside Germany, and fish fossils. Her observations helped show that coprolites, which were called bezoar stones at the time, were fossilised faeces. She also found that belemnite fossils contained fossilised ink sacs like those of modern cephalopods.

Anning often had little money. As a woman, she was not allowed to join the Geological Society of London. She also did not always get full credit for her scientific work. Her friend, the geologist Henry De la Beche, painted Duria Antiquior. It was one of the first widely shared pictures of a scene from prehistoric life. He based it largely on fossils Anning had found, and he sold prints of the painting to help her.

Anning became well known among scientists in Britain, Europe, and America. People asked for her advice on anatomy as well as on collecting fossils. The only scientific writing of hers published during her lifetime appeared in the Magazine of Natural History in 1839. It was part of a letter she had written to the magazine's editor. After her death in 1847, people became more interested in her unusual life story.

Life and career

Further information: Jurassic Coast and List of fossil sites

Mary Anning was born in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England, on 21 May 1799. Her father, Richard, was a cabinetmaker. He looked for fossils in the cliffs near the town and sold them to visitors. Mary often went fossil hunting with him and her brother Joseph. The family sold their finds from a table outside their home. Richard died in 1810, and the family was left with debts. In 1811 Joseph found a large ichthyosaur skull. In 1812 Mary found the rest of the skeleton. In 1820 a rich collector held an auction of fossils he had bought from the family. It earned a lot of money and made the family better known. Mary became known for her skill and knowledge. She ran a fossil shop. In December 1823 she found the first complete Plesiosaurus.

At that time, women were not welcome in science. The Geological Society of London did not allow women to join. Male geologists often wrote about her finds without naming her, and this made her upset. Still, she became friends with many scientists, including Henry De la Beche and Charlotte Murchison. In the 1830s she had money problems, and in 1835 she lost most of her savings. Later, a government pension gave her some financial security. Mary died of breast cancer on 9 March 1847, at the age of 47. Her work was remembered with a stained-glass window. De la Beche gave a speech about her to the Geological Society. It was the first such speech given for a woman.

Major discoveries

See also: History of palaeontology and Timeline of palaeontology

Anning's first famous find came soon after her father died, when she was about 12. In 1811 her brother Joseph found a large skull, but he could not find the rest of the animal. A few months later, Anning found the skeleton. It was about 17 feet (5.2 m) long. The fossil was bought and shown to the public in London by William Bullock. People were amazed by it. Its ichthyosaur remains raised questions about the new science of geology and the history of the Earth. Sir Everard Home wrote about the fossil in a series of papers for the Royal Society, but he did not name Anning as the person who found it. Later, William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche showed that ichthyosaurs were a type of marine reptile that scientists had not known about before. Anning found more ichthyosaur skeletons. In 1821 she found a large skeleton that was used to name Temnodontosaurus platyodon. Conybeare also named the plesiosaur in 1821. In 1823 Anning found a more complete plesiosaur skeleton. Her fossils helped later work by William Buckland, Georges Cuvier, and Richard Owen. In 1824 a Megalosaurus dinosaur was also described at a meeting where Conybeare shared his plesiosaur findings. This caused a great deal of excitement.

Anning also found other kinds of fossils. She found a ray-finned fish, Dapedium politum. In 1828 she made an important find of a partial pterosaur skeleton, which Buckland later named Dimorphodon macronyx. In 1829 she found the fish Squaloraja, which had features between sharks and rays. In 1826 she found what looked like a dried ink chamber inside a belemnite. She compared it to the ink sacs of squid and cuttlefish, which helped scientists understand cephalopods. She also thought that odd "bezoar stones" were fossilised waste. Buckland later named them coprolites. Buckland praised her skill and hard work when he presented these findings.

Recognition and legacy

Anning's discoveries became key evidence for extinction. Until the early 1820s, many scientists still believed that living kinds of animals did not die out. Anning's strange fossils, such as the plesiosaur, were so unlike any living creature that they challenged this idea. Her finds, along with the first dinosaur fossils discovered by Gideon Mantell and William Buckland, showed that the Earth had once been home to very different creatures. This supported the idea of an "age of reptiles," a time when giant reptiles were the main animals. Her work also helped lead to the study of ancient life, which came to be called palaeontology.

Anning has been honoured in many ways. In 2010, the Royal Society named her one of the ten British women who have most influenced the history of science. The Lyme Regis Museum was built on the site of her former home in 1902. The area where she collected fossils is now part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. In 2021, the Royal Mint issued special fifty pence coins in her honour. In March 2024, the Royal Mail issued a set of four stamps celebrating her. The Swiss-American naturalist Louis Agassiz was the only person who named a species after her during her lifetime. An asteroid, an area on Mars explored by the Curiosity rover, and a plateau on Venus have also been named after her. The 2020 film Ammonite, directed by Francis Lee, was based on parts of her life. Kate Winslet played Anning in the film.

Main article: Statue of Mary Anning

In 2022, a statue of Anning was unveiled in Lyme Regis. Professor Alice Roberts and Evie Swire unveiled it. Evie was a schoolgirl who started the "Mary Anning Rocks" campaign to honour her. The statue was unveiled on 21 May 2022, the 223rd anniversary of Anning's birth.