Who Was Mary Anning? Watch the Animated Story of Britain's Pioneer Fossil Hunter

This animated short, created by the Natural History Museum in London, tells us the story, in animated form, of Mary Anning.  She was born in 1799 and only lived till she was 47, but left a legacy as a pioneering palaeontologist who really should have received much more recognition while she was alive, frankly.  What got in her was her gender – she was barred from belonging to any of the serious scientific “clubs” of the time simply because she was a woman.  Not that it stopped her – she discovered the first ichthyosaur – not to mention an almost complete plesiosaurus and spent her life collecting and studying fossils on Britain’s Jurassic Coast.

This video is a great introduction to Anning and is suitable for young and old audiences alike – who will no doubt take away different things from this story of someone who refused to give in doing what she loved simply because she was born with the “wrong” body parts.  As much as anything else, Anning’s discoveries massively increased our understanding of life on our planet millions of years ago and many of her discoveries are still on exhibit at the Natural History Museum.  Watch the animated story of Mary Anning’s life below.