Great Stories in Lady Science: the 19th C Fossil Hunter

Great stories in lady science is a regular feature where we take a look at a historical or modern day female scientist and get inspired by her contributions and struggles.

Painting of Mary Anning with her dog Tray, who used to go with her while hunting fossils before he was lost in a landslide that nearly killed Anning herself

“This persevering female has for years gone daily in search of fossil remains of importance at every tide, for many miles under the hanging cliffs at Lyme, whose fallen masses are her immediate object, as they alone contain these valuable relics of a former world, which must be snatched at the moment of their fall, at the continual risk of being crushed by the half suspended fragments they leave behind, or be left to be destroyed by the returning tide: - to her exertions we owe nearly all the fine specimens of Ichthyosauri of the great collections…”
            - George Cumberland to the Bristol Mirror, 1823

“. . . the extraordinary thing in this young woman is that she has made herself so thoroughly acquainted with the science that the moment she finds any bones she knows to what tribe they belong. . . It is certainly a wonderful instance of divine favour - that this poor, ignorant girl should be so blessed, for by reading and application she has arrived to that degree of knowledge as to be in the habit of writing and talking with professors and other clever men on the subject, and they all acknowledge that she understands more of the science than anyone else in this kingdom.”
- Lady Harriet Sivester, in her diary after having met Mary Anning in 1824

Her discoveries included: a complete ichthyosaur skeleton and the first plesiosaur, a complete pterodactyl, and the fish fossil Squaloraja (seen as a link between sharks and rays), were critical contributions to the scientific debate at the time about the concepts of extinction and evolution. Even among the highly scientifically educated of her day, the idea that something God created could disappear and by some extension that new species could appear was highly contested.  The impact of this evidence is attributable not only to her having unearth these fossils but also the tenacity and intellectual curiosity that were required for her to properly catalogue her findings, recognize them as important, and place them in the context of the wider scientific understanding the time. 

Her work and her life choices were the subject of much and varied opinion at the time.  Descriptions of her differ wildly, clearly depending on the individual’s opinion of her involvement in the then “masculine” world of science.  No matter society’s opinion of her, however, after her many famous discoveries, Anning herself became an attraction on the Dorset coast with tourists coming to see the “Princess of paleontology” (as described in a letter by Ludwig Leichhardt).   Later in her life, Anning’s accomplishments were acknowledged by the scientific community at the time through several accolades and “subscriptions” of annual funding granted by various academic societies.

Mary Anning’s story is inspiring to me in a number of ways.  She was often discouraged and faced repeated barriers to her participation in the scientific community.  It has been noted that her treatment by history is not always fair, was occasionally infantilizing (see picture at left) and was often obscured by the cultural biases of the time in which she lived.  Yet despite this, her work is seen today for the important contribution that it was.  Mary Anning capture’s very nicely what we mean when we say that “Scientist Equals Scientist”:  her work, her research practices, and her ideas were what made her a scientist then and now.  

Anning's letter and drawing announcing the discovery of the plesiosaur

Anning's plesiosaur

An Ichthyosaur fossil, like those discovered by Anning, often described as "crocodiles" at the time