Mary Anning Icthyosasur fossil

Mary Anning was the world's first professional fossil hunter.

She discovered many of the most spectacular specimens of Mesozoic reptiles, fish and invertebrates found at Lyme Regis in Dorset, England.

The huge reptile fossils she presented were unlike anything academics of the time had ever seen. They were the world's first glimpse into a Mesozoic age of giant reptiles on land and under the sea.

Many of the icthyosaurs and plesiosaurs that now line the Museum's Marine Reptile Gallery were collected by Anning herself.