Mary Anning, a Forgotten Discoverer of Science

Biography

Mary Anning was born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, a modest coastal town in southern England known for its fossil-rich cliffs. Coming from a poor family, she grew up in humble surroundings, but her curiosity and love of nature showed early. From childhood, she accompanied her father on the cliffs and beaches to search for fossils, which they sold to support the family. These expeditions, often dangerous due to unstable cliffs and storms, sharpened her keen sense of observation, patience, and meticulousness.

At only twelve years old, Mary makes an exceptional discovery: the first complete skeleton of ichthyosaur, a marine reptile disappeared for millions of years. A few years later, she also brought to light a plesiosaur and the first pterodactyl ever identified in England. These discoveries, of paramount importance, upset the scientific knowledge of his time and gradually attract the attention of many researchers and naturalists. But Mary Anning undergoes the Matilda effect and her fossils are often studied and published by men like William Conybeare, Henry De la Beche, or William Buckland, without her being credited as a discoverer. Despite these invisibilizations, Mary Anning continues to document and classify her findings with remarkable precision. Her observations have laid the foundation for stratigraphy and modern paleontology, notably by demonstrating the existence of extinct species.

Mary Anning died in 1847, but her legacy is vast. Her courage, thirst for knowledge, and passion for science continue to inspire generations of researchers, particularly women entering the sciences. Thanks to her, the world knows prehistoric creatures better, and her name remains forever linked to the lost worlds she helped reveal. Mary Anning stands as a symbol of tenacity, curiosity, and perseverance for all who explore the unknown.