Mary Anning – Mother of Paleontology

Mary Anning was born on May 27th, 1799 to a poor working family who collected fossils they found along in the cliffs of southern England, to sell to tourists outside of their home. Her father Richard, a carpenter by trade, taught her everything he knew about fossils. When Mary was 11, her father slipped and fell while walking over the cliffs. Weakened by the serious injuries, he died soon after from tuberculosis. Mary dropped out of school to continue collecting fossils, as it was now their only income. However, her basic primary education, reading and writing, helped her communicate with the “Great Men of Geology”, such as William Buckland, George Cuvier, and Henry de la Beche. Later, she taught herself to read French so she could read Cuvier’s work on fossil bones in the original language in which it was written. One day, Mary’s bother Joseph found an unusual skull in the cliffs. Twelve-year-old Mary searched relentlessly to uncover the rest of the fossilized bones and dig them out. She had found the skeleton of a prehistoric reptile, the ichthyosaur. This creature was half fish and half lizard. In that time, extinction was a highly controversial theory. Many Christians were shocked and confused as to why God would let a species die out. However, Mary was noticed by educated geologists who started to go to her for advice. When Mary was 22, she discovered the first plesiosaur skeleton. At first, experts thought that her find was a fake, but in time was proven to be a true discovery. At that time, women were not accepted in the Geological Society and she was not properly credited for her earth groundbreaking discoveries. Some men gave lectures introducing her discoveries, without any mention of the woman who had discovered them. With perseverance, Mary continued to search for ancient Jurassic creatures and opened a shop to sell her fossils. She had studied the rocks so carefully that she could even spot coprolites, which are lumps of fossilized manure. Even with all her accomplishments, she remained extremely poor and was not respected within the community. Things got worse for Mary, as her beloved dog Tray was killed in a landslide and she became sick with breast cancer. The medication caused her to wobble, so the locals would sneer at her and call her a drunk. Mary died at the age of 47 in 1846. Only on her death bed, did she begin to get the respect she deserved. The Geological Society of London made her an honorary member and began to write about her life’s achievements. Now, her outstanding contribution to paleontology is fully recognized, and she is a celebrated woman of science.