British fossil collector and paleontologist Mary Anning (1799-1847) was only twelve years old, the child of a poor family, when she found the first dinosaur skeleton ever recorded in history. Until her landmark discovery, animal extinction was believed to be impossible. Her gender and social class made it difficult for her to fully participate in the scientific community of 19th-century Britain But she taught herself paleontology, and went on to become a renowned fossil-hunter and dealer. Anning was “probably the most important unsung collecting force in the history of paleontology.“ Her work ignited a fundamental shift in scientific thinking about prehistoric life.
Anning made her living selling dinosaur bones and sea shells. While she and her contribution are all but forgotten, as is the strange case with many heroes, children still honor her everyday. For the tongue-twisting children’s poem “she sells seashells by the sea shore’ was written about her.
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