Cosmos Magazine has a post about Mary Anning. Mary died on March 9th, 1847 at the age of 47. She made important contributions to paleontology back in the early 1800s. She was a very interesting person who found some of the first Ichthyosaurs, Plesiosaurs, and pterosaurs. There are a few biographies of her life (The Fossil Hunter) and even a few recent movies!
Anning was no ordinary palaeontologist. She made her first significant find when just 11 or 12 (details differ) years old when she discovered a complete skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus from the Jurassic period, which created a sensation and made her famous.
Anning's passion for fossils came from her father's interest in fossil hunting, and a need for the income derived from them to support her family after his death.
She lived and worked in the English town of Lyme Regis, unearthing and selling large fossils to noted palaeontologists of the day and smaller ones to the tourist trade.
In 1823, Anning discovered the first complete Plesiosaurus. Her discoveries became key pieces of evidence for extinction. Later in her life, the Geological Society of London granted her an honorary membership.
