Paleontology owes a huge debt to an English woman who lived during the first half of the 19th Century - Mary Anning. Although not a scientist she discovered a number of important fossils along the coast of England. The specimens she collected changed the views of scientists on the marine vertebrates of the Mesozoic.
Born in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England, Mary was given the name of her family's first born (of ten children) who had burned to death in a tragic fire. Of the ten only Mary and her brother Joseph survived to adulthood. Mary herself seemingly miraculously survived a lightening strike in 1800 that killed three women, including the one holding her. Her father died in 1810, leaving the family destitute. He had been a cabinet maker, but had collected fossils as a hobby. He taught his family how to collect the fossils and this allowed Mary and her mother, Molly, to develop a business of selling the material she found.
Although she had a limited education Mary Anning discovered a treasure trove of fossils from the area of Lyme Regis, including an ichthyosaur skull that she discovered when she was 11 years old. Although her brother made some finds, Mary was especially adept at the art and she kept up with the current scientific literature avidly until she was recognized by several scientists as the most knowledgeable person on the Jurassic fauna of Lyme Regis and the Blue Lias formation in the country. In 1823 she discovered the first plesiosaur. While she was not the first to discover the ichthyosaur, she collected the most complete skeletons known. Eventually her finds impressed Georges Cuvier, the French zoologist, and Anning and her brother were justly celebrated. Unfortunately many of her finds were not documented as having been found by Mary Anning and she eventually fell into obscurity as the scientists who knew her died. However, she contributed greatly to the knowledge of the Jurassic fauna and supplied the finest specimens anyone had seen at the time.
Internet References:
Mary Anning http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/...
Mary Anning, Finder of Fossils http://www.sdsc.edu/...
Mary Anning http://en.wikipedia.org/...