Mary Anning
| Mary Anning | |
|---|---|
Mary Anning with her dog, Tray, painted before 1842; the Golden Cap outcrop can be seen in the background
|
|
| Born |
21 May 1799 Lyme Regis, Dorset, Great Britain |
| Died | 9 March 1847 (aged 47) Lyme Regis, Dorset, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Cause of death | Breast cancer |
| Resting place |
St. Michael's Church, Lyme Regis 50°43′32″N 2°55′54″W / 50.725471°N 2.931701°W |
| Occupation | Fossil collector · Paleontologist |
| Parent(s) | Richard Anning (c. 1766–1810) Mary Moore (c. 1764–1842) |
| Relatives | Joseph Anning (brother; 1796–1849) |
Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer, and paleontologist who became known around the world for important finds she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset in Southwest England. Her findings contributed to important changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth.
Mary Anning searched for fossils in the area's Blue Lias cliffs, particularly during the winter months when landslides exposed new fossils that had to be collected quickly before they were lost to the sea. She nearly died in 1833 during a landslide that killed her dog, Tray. Her discoveries included the first ichthyosaur skeleton correctly identified; the first two more complete plesiosaur skeletons found; the first pterosaur skeleton located outside Germany; and important fish fossils. Her observations played a key role in the discovery that coprolites, known as bezoar stones at the time, were fossilised faeces. She also discovered that belemnite fossils contained fossilised ink sacs like those of modern cephalopods. When geologist Henry De la Beche painted Duria Antiquior, the first widely circulated pictorial representation of a scene from prehistoric life derived from fossil reconstructions, he based it largely on fossils Anning had found, and sold prints of it for her benefit.
Anning did not fully participate in the scientific community of 19th-century Britain, who were mostly Anglican gentlemen. She struggled financially for much of her life. Her family was poor, and her father, a cabinetmaker, died when she was eleven.
...
Wikipedia