3/10/2023 0 Comments Nucleus pangea arcade unline![]() ![]() However, the evidence that was being found in the fossil record was contradictory to the Genesis story in the Bible. Like many of her peers, including Darwin, Anning had strong religious convictions. ![]() These discoveries proved that there had been significant changes in the way living things appeared throughout the history of the world. She eventually found Pterodactylus macronyx and a 2.7-meter Plesiosaurus, considered by many to be her greatest discovery (Figure 7.4). Figure 7.4 Plesiosaurus, illustrated and described by Mary Anning in an undated handwritten letter.Īround the age of 10, Anning located and excavated a complete fossilized skeleton of an ichthyosaurus (“fish lizard”). In 1833, while searching for fossils, Anning lost her beloved dog in a landslide and nearly lost her own life in the process (Emling 2011). The work was physically demanding and downright dangerous. Continuing her father’s passion for fossil hunting, Anning scoured the crumbling cliffs after storms for fossilized remains and shells. Now called the “Jurassic Coast,” Lyme Regis has always been a rich source for fossilized remains (Figure 7.3). The geology of Lyme Regis, with its limestone cliffs, provided a fortuitous backdrop for Anning’s lifework. In spite of the expectations of Georgian English society to the contrary, Anning became a highly successful fossil hunter as well as a self-educated geologist and anatomist. Figure 7.3 The “Jurassic Coast” of Lyme Regis: the home of fossil hunter Mary Anning. In this framework, the pursuit of intellectual and scientific discovery became a popular avocation for many individuals, the vast majority of whom were wealthy men (Figure 7.2). Barely a century earlier, Sir Isaac Newton had developed his theories on physics and become the president of the Royal Society of London (Dolnick 2011, 5). ![]() Moreover, the scientific discoveries of the 18th century set the stage for great leaps of knowledge and understanding about humans and the natural world. The time when Anning lived was a remarkable period in human history because of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The prehistoric world fascinated scholars and was an accepted part of Earth’s history, even if explanation defied non-secular thought. Figure 7.2 A Walk at Dusk, 1830-1835, by Caspar David Friedrich. It was remarkable that Anning was eventually able to influence the great scientists of the day with her fossil discoveries and her subsequent hypotheses regarding evolution. As a woman, born to a poor family, with a minimal education (even by 19th-century standards), the odds were against Anning becoming a scientist (Emling 2011, xii). Anning lived her entire life in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast in England. Mary Anning (1799–1847) is likely the most famous fossil hunter you’ve never heard of (Figure 7.1). Notice that Anning is pointing at a fossil! The “Jurassic Coast” of Lyme Regis is in the background. Describe the methods used to reconstruct past environments.įOSSIL STUDY: AN EVOLVING PROCESS Mary Anning and the Age of Wonder Figure 7.1 An oil painting of Mary Anning and her dog, Tray, prior to 1845.Discuss relative and chronometric dating methods, the type of material they analyze, and their applications.Identify the different types of fossils and describe how they are formed. ![]()
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