Tag Archives: Paleontology

Amazing Woman: Mary Anning

Posted on by
Reply

Ask any young child what their favorite thing is ever and there’s a good chance they’ll say dinosaurs. Today, we are going to discuss one of the most influential women in the field of paleontology, Mary Anning.

By Credited to ‘Mr. Grey’ in Crispin Tickell’s book ‘Mary Anning of Lyme Regis’ (1996) – Two versions side by side, Sedgwick Museum. Also see here. According to the Sedgwick Museum, there are two versions. The earlier version is by an unknown artist, dated before 1842 and credited to the Geological Society. The later version is a copy by B.J. M. Donne in 1847 or 1850, and is credited to the Natural History Museum in London. Also see here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3824696

Born 1799 in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England, Mary grew up in the popular seaside resort area which was already popular for selling ‘curios’ to tourists, many of which were actually fossils including “snake-stones” (ammonites), “devil’s fingers” (belemnites), and “verteberries” (vertebrae). These items ended up in curio chests and cabinets all over the world and were thought to have medicinal and mystical properties.

Richard, Mary’s father, would take her and her brother, Joseph, to the coastal cliffs which were part of the Blue Lias. The unique formation of limestone and shale made this perfect fossil hunting territory. The family would collect and sell these fossils to supplement their income.

Mary’s father died when she was eleven and she continued to search for fossils to sell in order to support her family. It was during one of these searches that she and her brother came across their first major find when her brother dug up a four-foot-long ichthyosaur skull. Mary found the rest of the skeleton a few months later. She was only twelve. That skull was sold at auction to Charles Konig of the British Museum for £45 and five shillings.

Some say her story led to the creation of the popular tongue twister “She sells seashells on the seashore” by Terry Sullivan published in 1908.

By Thomas Webster (1773-1844) – Transactions of the Geological Society of London (1824), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9001159

At the age of 24, Mary found the first complete Plesiosaurus skeleton. That same year, she was nearly crushed by a landslide that killed her dog, Tray. Five years later, she found the first of the pterosaurs ever to be seen outside of Germany. They called them “flying dragons” at the time.

Mary Anning quickly became known in the fossil community as an expert in the different families of bones and was consulted often. During her life, she was not allowed to join the Geological Society of London because she was a woman. In fact, the only publication she is ever named in is the Magazine of Natural History in 1839 where she wrote a letter to the editor questioning one of its claims.

Her discoveries played an important role in the discovery of coprolites were actually fossilized feces and that belemnite follis contained fossilized ink sacs much like those found in modern cephalopods.

Mary died young at the age of 47 of breast cancer. In 2010, the Royal Society included her in a list of the ten British Women who have most influenced the history of science.

References:

You can also find updates and post notifications on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – chose the one you like the most!

Funny Sign – Watch Out!

Posted on by
2

Look closely at this sign, see if you notice anything strange or out of the ordinary.
IMG_1629There, you see it? Yes, that’s a T-rex on the sign, which is apparently yet another traffic hazard here in the Western US along with traffic cones and rattlesnakes.  I have yet to spot one in my travels, I hear they are shy, and tend to only come out to feed. Some say they are more afraid of us than we are of them, although with the size difference it’s hard to say. I’d personally avoid them, too many teeth and man eating tendencies for me.

I found this sign outside of the new Natural History Museum of Utah, nestled up in the foothills of the Wasatch range of the Rocky Mountains.  The museum is located right next to the Bonneville Shoreline trail, which contrary to its name doesn’t actually run along a body of water, but refers to the ancient and long gone Lake Bonneville which used to cover a good part of the state of Utah.  Instead, the trail offers terrific views of the valley floor and is a favorite among trail walkers and bikers alike.

The museum itself is a must see with huge dynamic exhibits that cover the full spectrum of life on earth from the dinosaurs all the way up to modern biology.  My kids love the hands on exhibits and the onsite paleontology lab where they can watch real scientists work on real dinosaur bones.  I love the ease and accessibility of the different exhibits and how they flow from one to the next, bringing the visitor from the darkest recesses of prehistory all the way to the present day.  That, and the dinosaur exhibit is pretty awesome.

If you plan on coming, prepare to spend several hours – there’s plenty to see and do for everyone.  Just watch out for those pesky T- Rexes, they tend to take a bite out of your day!