Remarkable Creatures

Mary Anning was born in 1799 into a working-class family. This was a time when scientific inventions and discoveries were challenging long-held beliefs. Mary lived in Lyme Regis, Dorset, which came to be called the “Jurassic Coast” due to its large deposits of geological treasures. During the Jurassic Period, the Dorset coast existed in a deep sea and the bottom waters were anoxic (or lacked dissolved oxygen), so there were fewer scavengers there. As a result, dead marine animals sank to the bottom and were pristinely preserved in the clay. During Mary’s time, the area was experiencing coastal erosion, which made Lyme Regis a prime marine fossil hunting spot. The Annings collected fossils and sold them as curiosities. When Mary’s father, Richard Anning, died in 1810, Mary and her brother Joseph intensified their fossil hunting to keep the family from being destitute. Mary’s keen eye and unrelenting determination led to numerous groundbreaking paleontological discoveries that challenged prevailing scientific beliefs of the time.

Joseph found an ichthyosaur skull in 1811, and Mary found the body the following year when she was just 12 years old. Deep in debt, the Annings sold the skeleton to a local landowner for 23 pounds. The landowner subsequently sold it to Bullock, who ran a museum in London, and he then sold it to the British Museum, where the specimen first attracted the scientific community’s attention. Mary’s find was the first ichthyosaur to be examined by the Royal Geological Society in London, and members began traveling to Lyme Regis to meet Mary and have her take them out on fossil hunts. The gentlemen created sketches from Mary’s specimens and drafted scientific papers on them. However, because Mary was a woman, she received no credit for the discoveries. Despite this, she educated herself by reading and copying the scientific papers written about her findings. In one paper about the plesiosaur she had discovered, Mary wrote in the margins: “When I write a paper, there will not be but one preface” (Chevalier, Tracy. “Postscript.” Remarkable Creatures. p. 349).

By her twenties, Mary was the sole supporter of her family, and in 1823, she discovered the first complete plesiosaurus. She continued to make remarkable discoveries, including correctly identifying coprolites as fossilized feces. Mary once excavated ink sacs containing usable ink from a prehistoric invertebrate. Her meticulous excavation techniques and detailed documentation provided invaluable insights into ancient ecosystems and evolutionary history, paving the way for future generations of paleontologists. In December of 1828, Mary found the first British example of a pterodactyl and was finally invited to London, 16 years after her first discovery. Members of the Royal Geological Society began recognizing her contributions to science, such as Henry de La Beche’s depiction of prehistoric life based on her fossil finds. De La Beche sold prints of the illustration and gave Mary the profits. In 1830, Mary found a complete skeleton of a plesiosaurus macrocephalus, which was her last significant and most visually astounding find.

Despite her significant contributions to paleontology, Mary Anning encountered discrimination and exclusion from academic circles dominated by male scientists. Despite these obstacles, her expertise and dedication earned her respect among prominent scientists and collectors of the time, including geologists Henry De la Beche and William Buckland. In 1823, the Geological Society of London recognized Mary’s contributions and named her an honorary member, making her one of the first women to receive such recognition. However, as a working-class person, financial stability remained elusive for Mary, highlighting the systemic barriers in science during the 19th century. Both poor and provincial, Mary rarely left Lyme Regis and only visited London once. Because of her work, Lyme Regis has become a tourist attraction. Henry de la Beche wrote Mary’s obituary in the Geological Society’s journal after her death, which showed the society’s respect for her. Yet, much of Mary’s influence was lost to time, and she has been far less celebrated than those who published papers on the fossils. In recent years, efforts to celebrate Mary Anning’s contributions and legacy have gained momentum, with museums, educational institutions, and the scientific community recognizing her role in the history of paleontology (“Mary Anning: The Unsung Hero of Fossil Discovery.” Natural History Museum, 9 Mar. 2018).