Google Doodle Honors Mary Anning, Female Paleontologist

Google’s homepage doodle today features paleontologist Mary Anning, on the 215th anniversary of the famous British fossil finder’s birth.

Anning was born on May 21, 1799 and became known around the world for key findings she made in the Jurassic marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis in Dorset, southern England, an area particularly rich in fossils. She discovered the first ichthyosaur skeleton at the age of 12, as well as the first two plesiosaur skeletons ever found.

As a woman with a working class background, Anning did not always receive full credit for her work, but she was awarded a stipend by the Geological Society of London and named Honorary Member of the new Dorset County Museum one year before her death of breast cancer at age 47.