Fantastic Women Series — Mary Anning the original fossil hunter
When it comes to fossils, Mary Anning’s name has only recently started to come into the limelight.
Born on May 21, 1799, she was the original fossil hunter, fossil dealer and palaeontologist, who became famous for her important finds in the Jurassic marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis, Dorset.
She was born in a poor family and the first of ten children. Her father was a cabinet maker, who supplemented the family income by collecting fossils on the Lyme Regis coast and selling them to tourists, often taking Mary and her brother with him. The family sold a significant number of fossils and when Richard Anning died in 1810, leaving the family with considerable debts, they continued the business.
By 1825, Mary had taken up the leading role as the family fossil hunter. Her discoveries included the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton; two complete plesiosaur skeletons; the first pterosaur skeleton located outside Germany; and important fish fossils. Her findings were extremely important in changing scientific knowledge about prehistoric life, the history of Earth and became key pieces of evidence for extinction. In 1826, Mary opened a shop called Anning’s Fossil Depot in her house, which was frequented by many geologists and fossil hunters from Britain and abroad.
