Mary Anning - the girl who discovered ancient dragons to the world (8 photos)

The chance discoveries of this ordinary girl subsequently revolutionized ideas about the ancient world.





Mary Anning was born in 1799 in Britain. The family lived in the town of Lyme Regis in Dorset. On the so-called Jurassic Coast, which left an imprint on the hobby of the girl’s father. An ordinary carpenter was fond of searching for fossils and taught this to children - Mary and her brother Joseph.



Jurassic Coast

When my father passed away, the hobby grew into a family business. And it was headed by a 10-year-old girl who was still supposed to play with dolls.

Without a formal education, she learned not only to read and write, but also to classify the fossils she found, sketch them, and send them to potential buyers. Not only tourists and private collectors, but also museums acted in this capacity.



Mary Anning and her faithful dog Troy



Illustration of Mary Anning's discovery of an ichthyosaur (top) and a plesiosaur

In 1811, Joseph came across the skull of an ichthyosaur. It was initially mistaken for a crocodile, although in reality it was a lizard that lived approximately 200 million years ago.

A couple of years later, Mary discovered the remaining bones. Which were immediately acquired by the local museum. In 1823, Anning discovered a plesiosaur, a Mesozoic long-necked marine reptile with a tiny head and giant flippers.



Plesiosaur skeleton found by Mary Anning

But, despite her luck and hard work, the woman was unable to make a name for herself in scientific circles. This is because throughout her life, Mary was subjected to gender discrimination, as this was the norm in a patriarchal society. The woman was not accepted into the London Geological Society, and her fees were not always paid in full. But Mary literally risked her life: fossils had to be looked for after landslides, which could continue at any moment. In 1933, she almost died, and her faithful dog Troy, who accompanied Mary during the raid, was killed by stones.

Colleagues shamelessly wrote articles using the results of Mary’s work as a basis, without even citing her.



Although, what can one demand from a society, most of which believed that the world was not even two thousand years old? And the only true source of information about him is the Bible. Therefore, the discovery of ancient lizards, especially by a little girl, was undesirable for the existing system.



Watercolor by Henry de la Beche

True, not everyone thought so. Mary was still recognized as an anatomy consultant. Colleague and friend geologist Henry de la Beche produced postcards depicting Anning's finds and transferred proceeds from the sale to her.

Mary died in her hometown at the age of 47. Only more than a century and a half later, the Royal Society included Anning among the ten British women who had the greatest influence on the history of science.



Still from the movie "Ammonite"

In 2020, the film “Ammonite” was released, dedicated to Anning, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.