In 1811, while exploring the cliffs near Lyme Regis, England,
12-year-old Mary Anning made the find of a lifetime. There in the rocks
was the skeleton of a strange creature. Mary's find was later named
Ichthyosaurus, a reptile that lived more than 250 million years ago.
Anning went on to have a long career finding and identifying dinosaur
fossils. However, her work often went unrecognized by male scientists of
the time, and she received little credit until long after her death.
Learn about Mary Anning's perseverance and her important discoveries in
paleontology.