03/14/2022
Mary Anning (1799-1847) Fossil hunter. Paleontologist.
Mary began fossil hunting with her family near their home on the seaside cliffs of the English Channel. Her family relied on the income that came with selling these found fossils to scholars and collectors. Mary was self taught in geology, anatomy, paleontology, and scientific illustration. At the age of 12, she and her brother Joseph discovered the 1st known Ichthyosaur, and Mary extracted it herself. Later in 1824, she found the 1st intact plesiosaur skeleton. After much skepticism of her finding, it was finally, and this began the turning point for Mary and her family. The scientific community began to acknowledge and value her discoveries. She went on to work for the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Geological Society of London. In 1847, Mary died of breast cancer. She is recognized as 1 of the 10 most influential women scientists in British history.
Mary's other discoveries include skeletons of the pterosaurs and the squaloraja, and many others that she was never properly given credit for discovering.
Photo: famousscientists.org
