In 1811, twelve-year-old Mary Anning and her brother Joseph made a groundbreaking discovery in Lyme Regis, England. Joseph uncovered a 1.2-foot skull, and Mary, through relentless effort, excavated the rest of the 5-foot-long skeleton — an Ichthyosaurus, a marine reptile that lived 200 million years ago.
Originally mistaken for a crocodile, it became the first complete Ichthyosaurus identified by scientists in London. The fossil, sold for £ 23, helped support their impoverished family and drew curious crowds to the British Museum to see the so-called "lizard-fish."
Born in 1799 to a lumberjack, Mary learned to hunt fossils along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. After her father’s death in 1810, she supported her family by selling fossils, despite lacking formal education. She taught herself geology and anatomy, eventually discovering the first complete Plesiosaurus in 1823 and Britain’s first Pterosaurus in 1828.
Mary’s finds challenged long-held views about Earth’s history. Yet, as a working-class woman, she was rarely credited, with many of her discoveries claimed by male scientists. She faced constant danger in her work — surviving a deadly landslide in 1833 that tragically killed her dog, Tray.
Despite her brilliance, Mary was barred from the Geological Society of London, which did not admit women until 1904. Early skeptics like Georges Cuvier dismissed her Plesiosaurus as a hoax, though he later acknowledged her remarkable contributions.
While she earned the respect of a few, such as William Buckland, Mary spent her life in poverty, relying on fossil sales to survive. She died of breast cancer in 1847 at the age of 47.
Today, her once-overlooked legacy is celebrated. Her discoveries are showcased at the Natural History Museum, and the Jurassic Coast has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in her honor.
