Mary Anning's Ichthyosaur

MARY ANNING'S ICHTHYOSAUR

On display in the Museum is the partial skeleton of a young ichthyosaur with stomach contents from the Lower Jurassic.

This 195-million-year-old marine reptile was discovered in Lyme Regis at some time before 1836 by the British palaeontologist Mary Anning (1799–1847). The ichthyosaur fossil is so well preserved that fish bones and scales from its last meal can still be seen inside its ribcage. It is one of the first ichthyosaurs ever discovered with preserved stomach contents from the UK. This particular specimen has recently been re-identified as a juvenile of Ichthyosaurus anningae, named after Mary Anning.

Its discoverer, Mary Anning, lived and worked in the English coastal town of Lyme Regis, finding and selling fossils. She made many important discoveries in the Jurassic rocks there, including the first plesiosaur to be scientifically described, and many other ichthyosaur skeletons. Her life, scientific work and discoveries are now celebrated worldwide.

Pastel portrait of Mary Anning by Benjamin John Merifield Donne, 1850. <br><i> ©The Geological Society of London.</i>

Pastel portrait of Mary Anning by Benjamin John Merifield Donne, 1850. ©The Geological Society of London.

Duria Antiquior - A more Ancient Dorset painted by Henry De la Beche in 1830, is the first artistic representation of a scene of prehistoric life based on evidence from fossil remains, today known as ‘palaeoart’.

A letter from the palaeontologist Elizabeth Philpot to Mary Buckland, dated 9 December 1833, containing a sketch of an ichthyosaur skull painted in ink from a fossil squid of the same age as the ichthyosaur.

A letter from Elizabeth Philpot to William Buckland, c. 1833, containing a sketch of the same ichthyosaur skull after preparation, and a fossil ink sac painted in fossil squid ink.

A coprolite... a fossilised poo!

Duria Antiquior, a painting by Henry De La Beche based on Mary Anning’s fossil finds.

<i>Duria Antiquior - A more Ancient Dorset</i> painted by Henry De la Beche in 1830, is the first artistic representation of a scene of prehistoric life based on evidence from fossil remains, today known as ‘palaeoart’.

A letter from the palaeontologist Elizabeth Philpot to Mary Buckland, dated 9 December 1833, containing a sketch of an ichthyosaur skull painted in ink from a fossil squid of the same age as the ichthyosaur.

A letter from Elizabeth Philpot to William Buckland, c. 1833, containing a sketch of the same ichthyosaur skull after preparation, and a fossil ink sac painted in fossil squid ink.

Duria Antiquior, a painting by Henry De La Beche based on Mary Anning’s fossil finds

Read blog

A plesiosaur discovery

In 2014, palaeontologists from the Oxford Clay Working Group spotted a small piece of rib at the bottom of a quarry near Peterborough. This single bone led to the discovery of a lifetime: a rare, nearly complete, 165-million-year-old plesiosaur skeleton.