Mary Anning
Born	May 21, 1799 Lyme Regis, England
Died	March 9, 1847 Lyme Regis, England
Occupation	Fossil collector and paleontologist
Parents	Richard and Mary Anning

Mary Anning (May 21, 1799 – March 9, 1847) was an early British fossil collector and paleontologist. Image File history File links Maryanning. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Lyme Regis (IPA: ) is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and 25 miles east of Exeter. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ... Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, ancient; ontos, being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. ...

Early life

Born in the coastal southern English town of Lyme Regis in Dorset,^[1] Mary Anning was (it was said) marked out for an unusual life at the age of 15 months. In 1800 a lightning strike in the village caught four people in the open, killing three; the survivor was young Mary. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Lyme Regis (IPA: ) is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and 25 miles east of Exeter. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dÉ”.sÉ™t], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF...

Mary's father Richard was a cabinet maker who supplemented his income by mining the coastal cliff-side fossil beds near Lyme Regis, then selling his finds to tourists. When he died of tuberculosis in 1810, the Anning family was left without support, and Mary (along with her brother Joseph) began collecting full-time in an effort to gain some income. Cabinet making is the practice of utilizing many woodworking skills to create cabinets, shelving and furniture. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease that is caused by mycobacteria, primarily Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Fossil collecting was in vogue in the late 18th century and early 19th century, at first as a pastime akin to stamp collecting but gradually transforming into a science as the importance of fossils to geology and biology became understood. Anning catered to the commercial side of the field, selling her finds. Soon, however, she forged relationships within the scientific community, whose passion for fossils grew to be a major source of income for her. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Mary Anning unearthed this plesiosaur — the first to be discovered — in 1821.

The first cause of this connection was one of Anning's discoveries, in 1811, a few months after her father's death, the skeleton of an ichthyosaur. Her brother had discovered the skull of what appeared to be a large crocodile a year earlier. The rest of the skeleton was not to be found at first, but Mary came up with it after a storm scoured away a portion of the cliff containing it. This was the first complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur ever discovered, though not the first ichthyosaur fossil ever, as is sometimes reported (the genus had been described in 1699 from fragments discovered in Wales). Nevertheless, it was an important find, and was soon described in the Transactions of the Royal Society. Anning was no more than twelve years old at the time of her discovery. She went on to find two other distinct species of Ichthyosaur. Image File history File links Plesiosaur_anning. ... Image File history File links Plesiosaur_anning. ... Families Ichthyosauridae Leptonectidae Mixosauridae Ophthalmosauridae Shastasauridae Stenopterygiidae Teretocnemidae Ichthyosaurs (Greek for fish lizard - ιχθυς meaning fish and σαυρος meaning lizard) were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins. ... Events January 26 - Treaty of Karlowitz signed March 30 - the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa. ... The premises of The Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ...

As her reputation grew, Anning came to the attention of Thomas Birch, a wealthy fossil collector. Disturbed by the poverty of Mary and her family he arranged for the sale of his own fossil collection, the proceeds of which (some £400) were given to the Annings. Put on a sure (if somewhat spartan) financial footing for the first time in a decade, Mary carried on with her fossil collecting even after her brother gained employment as an upholsterer. Thomas Birch (November 23, 1705 - January 9, 1766), English historian, son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, was born at Clerkenwell. ... Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. ...

Her next major discovery was a real first, the first-ever skeleton of a plesiosaur in 1821. The fossil she found was subsequently described, by William Conybeare as Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus and is the type specimen (holotype) of the species, which itself is the type species of the genus. She found an 'unrivalled specimen' of Dapedium politum, a ray-finned fish, as described in 1828. In 1828 she discovered an important fossil of a pterosaur, a Pterodactylus macronyx (later renamed by Richard Owen Dimorphodon macronyx), the first found outside of Germany and thought to be the first complete skeleton. Families Plesiosaurs (IPA ) (Greek: plesios, near to + sauros, lizard) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... William Daniel Conybeare (June 7, 1787 - August 12, 1857) was an English geologist and paleontologist. ... Type specimens When a new species is discovered, more important than creating a new and unique name for the species is developing a reasonably detailed description. ... A holotype is one of several possible types. ... Species Dapedium (aka Dapedius or Moonfish) is an extinct species of enamel-scaled fish. ... Year 1828 (MDCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Suborders Pterodactyloidea Rhamphorhynchoidea * Pterosaurs (, from the Greek πτερόσαυρος, pterosauros, meaning winged lizard, often referred to as pterodactyls, from the Greek πτεροδάκτυλος, pterodaktulos, meaning winged finger ) were flying reptiles of the clade Pterosauria. ... This article, Richard Owen, includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Species (Buckland, 1829)(type) Clark , 1998 Dimorphodon (Two-form Teeth) was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from the Early Jurassic Period. ...

Those were the three finds that made her mark on history, but she continued collecting for the remainder of her life, making numerous other contributions to early paleontology. In her late thirties she was granted an annuity by the British Association for the Advancement of Science in return for her efforts. Anning died at the age of 47, of breast cancer; a few months beforehand she had been made an honorary member of the Geological Society of London despite being ineligible for regular membership due to the sexist mores of the time. Annuity contracts are offered by organizations and individuals that may accumulate value and take a current value and pay it out over a period of years. ... The British Association or the British Association for the Advancement of Science or the BA is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating intercourse between scientific workers. ... Breast cancer is cancer of breast tissue. ... The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in England with the aim of investigating the mineral structure of the Earth. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with over 9000 Fellows entitled to the postnominal FGS - over 2000 of... The sign of the headquarters of the National Association Opposed To Woman Suffrage Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination and/or hatred against people based on their sex rather than their individual merits, but can also refer to any and all systemic differentiations based on the sex of the... Mores are strongly held norms or customs. ...

Impact

Mary Anning's Window, St Michael's Church

Mary Anning's father's Gravestone

Taken all together, Mary Anning's discoveries became key pieces of evidence for extinction. Until her time it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct; any oddities found were explained away as still living somewhere in an unexplored region of the earth. The bizarre nature of the fossil by Anning struck a heavy blow against this argument, and set the stage for real understanding of life in earlier geologic ages. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 681 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1922 × 1693 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 681 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1922 × 1693 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 392 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1638 × 2501 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 392 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1638 × 2501 pixel, file size: 2. ...

For a time after her death, Mary dropped into obscurity but, in recent decades, she has been rediscovered After her death, a eulogy was read at the Geographical Society, 'some members' of which subsequently contributed to a stained-glass window to her memory, in the parish church of St Michael the Archangel, the Society having failed to elect her to membership during her lifetime, possibly as a result of latter-day ‘genderism’. The inscription reads: "This window is sacred to the memory of Mary Anning of this parish, who died 9 March AD 1847 and is erected by the vicar and some members of the Geological Society of London in commemoration of her usefulness in furthering the science of geology, as also of her benevolence of heart and integrity of life." (It depicts the corporal works of mercy, i.e. feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless visiting prisoners and visiting the sick.) The Royal Geographical Society is a learned society, founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical science, under the patronage of King William IV. It absorbed the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (founded by Joseph Banks in... Guido Renis archangel Michael (in the Capuchin church of Sta. ... Archangels are superior or higher-ranking angels. ... Sexism is discrimination between people based on their Sex rather than their individual merits. ...

Mary Anning is believed to be the source of the old tongue-twister, "She sells sea shells by the sea shore." More recently, she is the subject of a song, "Anning, Mary" by the group "Artichoke." A tongue-twister is a phrase in any language that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly. ...

Notes

Bibliography

• Torrens, Hugh. 1995. "Mary Anning (1799-1847) of Lyme: 'the greatest fossilist the world ever knew'," British Journal for the History of Science, 25:257-284.
• Anon. 1828. "Another discovery by Mary Anning of Lyme. An unrivalled specimen of Dapedium politum an antediluvian fish." Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 108:5599 2.

See also

• Jurassic Coast
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)

Lyme Bay. ... List of fossil sites: // Afar Depression, Ethiopia, Pliocene Awash River, Afar Depression, Ethiopia, Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy, Pliocene, 3. ...

Further reading

• Laurence Anholt, Stone Girl Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning, ISBN 1-84507-700-8, Frances Lincoln Publishers 2006
• Jeannine Atkins, Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon, ISBN 0-374-34840-5, Farrar Straus Giroux 1999
• Don Brown, Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries, ISBN 0-618-31081-9, Houghton Mifflin Co 2003
• Nigel J. Clarke, Mary Anning 1799-1847: A Brief History, ISBN 0-907683-57-6, Clarke (Nigel J) Publications 1998
• Sheila Cole, The Dragon in the Cliff: A Novel Based on the Life of Mary Anning, ISBN 0-595-35074-7, iUniverse.com 2005
• Marie Day, Dragon in the Rocks: A Story Based on the Childhood of the Early Paleontologist, Mary Anning, ISBN 1-895688-38-8, Maple Tree Press 1995
• Dennis B. Fradin, Mary Anning: The Fossil Hunter (Remarkable Children), ISBN 0-382-39487-9, Silver Burdett Press 1997
• Thomas W. Goodhue, Curious Bones: Mary Anning and the Birth of Paleontology (Great Scientists), ISBN 1-883846-93-5
• Thomas W. Goodhue, Fossil Hunter: The Life and Times of Mary Anning (1799-1847), ISBN 1-930901-55-0, cademica Pr Llc 2004
• Patricia Pierce, Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters, ISBN 0-7509-4039-5, Sutton Publishing 2006
• Crispin Tickell, Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, ISBN 0-9527662-0-5, Lyme Regis Philpot Museum 1996
• Sally M. Walker, Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter (On My Own Biographies (Hardcover)), ISBN 1-57505-425-6, Carolrhoda Books 2000
• 2007 QCA KS1 Sats Level 3 Reading Paper "Stones and Bones" Section 3: Mary Anning

External links

• Duria Antiquior - 'a more ancient Dorsetshire' an 1830 watercolour, by Henry Thomas de la Beche, of the seas of ancient Dorset, designed to highlight Mary Anning's discoveries
• Mary Anning, Finder of Fossils
• Lyme Regis Museum - Mary Anning
• Berkeley article
• A 360 degree panorama of East Cliff at Lyme Regis, the site of Mary Anning's ichthyosaur find in 1811