Mary Anning

Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter
A Biography

By Kate Wilkinson-Brindle
Illustrated by Amy Robinson

Introduction and Timeline

Mary Anning was born on the 21st May

1799 in Lyme Regis, which is a little town

in Dorset, on the south coast of England.

Mary’s parents were not wealthy people, but they managed

to rent a small house by the sea using her father’s

earnings from his job as a cabinetmaker. One day when

she was young, Mary visited a horse show with

three neighbours. Suddenly a storm blew in and

lightning struck the whole group – Mary was the

only survivor! The locals liked to say that Mary

was a bright and lively child because of that

Lyme lightning strike.
Regis

Curiosities

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, fossil collecting
was a very fashionable hobby. Rich tourists used
to come to the Dorset coast on holiday, and they
would buy ‘curiosities’ or ‘curios’ to display
in their homes.
Mary’s father made extra money by selling fossils to tourists. He
taught Mary and her brother, Joseph, where to search for the finest
fossils and how to extract them from the rocks that they were
encased in without damaging them.
Sadly, Mary’s father was badly injured in a cliff fall, and he died
when Mary was only 11.
Mary carried on searching for fossils to sell.

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Fish Lizard

When Mary was around 12
years old, Joseph found a
strange fossilised skull in the
cliff by the beach. Mary was intrigued, and she returned to the
beach to find more evidence of the creature. Over the next few
months, Mary excavated the rest of the 5.3 metre long skeleton.
People were amazed at this unrecognisable creature. Scientists
arrived in Lyme Regis to study it. Eventually, it was named as an
ichthyosaurus, or 'fish lizard’, but we now know that it was a
fish-eating reptile that lived in the ocean.

Sea Dragon

Mary continued to hunt for fossils, even

during severe weather and difficult times.

Her faithful dog, Tray, was killed when

part of a cliff fell onto the beach. Mary

only just escaped with her life. In 1823,

Mary uncovered another huge and

complete skeleton. Originally named

‘Sea Dragon’, many scientists thought

that this fossil was fake. In fact, most

scientists at the time ignored all of

Mary’s achievements as a paleontologist MMaarryy’s’sddrraawwininggaannddnnootteess
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because she was poor, female and
uneducated. But eventually, Mary’s find

was accepted and named as a plesiosaurus.

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A Jumble of Bones

In 1828, Mary excavated another
unusual fossil specimen after finding a
strange collection of jumbled up bones.

Although Mary
had not been to school or
university (these opportunities were
rarely available to girls of Mary’s
background atthat time) she had
taught herself geology, anatomy and
paleontology. Using these skills, Mary
solved the mystery of the bones. She
realised that this creature had possessed
wings! Mary had found the first ever
British example of what became known
as a pterodactyl – a flying dinosaur.

Palaeoart

Mary continued hunting for fossils,

and she became well-known across

the world. She sold many fossils

to collectors and museums, but

despite this, she remained

quite poor.

Mary’s friend Henry De la DDuurriaiaAAnnttiqiquuioiorroorraannccieiennttDDoorrsseett
Beche was so inspired by Mary’s

discoveries that he painted a picture of an imagined prehistoric

Dorset. He sold prints of his palaeoart to provide an income for

Mary. Can you see the ichthyosaur and plesiosaur in the painting?

Mary sadly died in 1847, aged 47, but you can still

see many of her remarkable fossil discoveries in

museums today.

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