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| Fig.1. Portrait of Mary Anning with her dog, Tray (Credit: NHM London, Public Domain) |
In 1799, Mary Anning was born to Richard and Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, a quiet town on the southern tip of England. Despite a lack of formal schooling and financial struggles, Anning would become one of England's most prolific fossil collectors. Her finds - including the first two plesiosaur skeletons ever found, the first pterosaur skeleton found outside of Germany, and the first ichthyosaur to be recognized - wound up in private collections and museums around Europe, laying the foundation for the emerging fields of geology and paleontology.
