Fiann Smithwick Instagram – Yesterday was the grand unveiling of the 200-year overdue statue to one of my personal heroes, the pioneering 19th Century fossil hunter Mary Anning. I’m sure many of you will be more than familiar with Mary’s life and work, but for those who aren’t, she is widely considered to be the greatest fossil hunter of all time.
She found thousands of incredibly rare fossils at Lyme Regis that no one had found before and helped to start palaeontology as a science. Her specimens, including the first ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterosaurs, were pivotal in us understanding about life before humans in the deep past and were important in the development of the theory of evolution.
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Sadly, she lived in poverty for much of her life, and was not properly recognised for her work in her lifetime. She wasn’t allowed into the Geological Society of London because she was a woman, despite knowing more about fossils than any man in there. The Jurassic Coast wouldn’t be the place it is without her, yet it’s taken this long for a statue to be made in her honour.
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A massive congratulations to the team at @maryanningrocks for getting this statue put in its rightful place. And a special thanks to Evie for kick starting the whole thing. Your effort to get this done was incredible and will inspire generations who head out past Mary to go fossil hunting. I know I’ll be giving her a nod before passing by to find the same types of fossils she found. And I’m sure fossil hunters in 200 years will do the same!
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#fossil #fossils #art #geology #palaeontology #paleontology #paleo #curiosity #ancient #history #collect #collection #animal #animals #evolution #science #museum #beach #collecting #treasure #lymeregis #lyme #maryanning #maryanningrocks #jurassiccoast #dorset #ammonite #ammonites #ichthyosaur #plesiosaur | Posted on 23/May/2022 01:01:01
