Editing Mary Anning (section)

== Recognition and legacy ==
[[File:Duria Antiquior.jpg|thumb|alt=Watercolour of prehistoric animals and plants living in the sea and on the nearby shore; foreground figures include pterosaurs fighting in the air above the sea and an ichthyosaur biting into the long neck of a plesiosaur.|The geologist [[Henry De la Beche]] painted the influential watercolour ''[[Duria Antiquior]]'' in 1830, based largely on fossils found by Anning.<ref name="Rudwick154" />]]

Anning's discoveries became key pieces of evidence for [[extinction]]. Georges Cuvier had argued for the reality of extinction in the late 1790s based on his analysis of fossils of [[mammal]]s such as [[mammoth]]s. Nevertheless, until the early 1820s it was still believed by many scientifically literate people that just as new species did not appear, so existing ones did not become extinct—in part because they felt that extinction would imply that God's creation had been imperfect; any oddities found were explained away as belonging to animals still living somewhere in an unexplored region of the Earth. The bizarre nature of the fossils found by Anning,—some, such as the [[plesiosaur]], so unlike any known living creature—struck a major blow against this idea.<ref>{{Harvnb|Emling|2009|pp=48–50, 88}}</ref>

The ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and [[pterosaur]] she found, along with the first [[dinosaur]] fossils which were discovered by [[Gideon Mantell]] and [[William Buckland]] during the same period, showed that during previous eras the Earth was inhabited by creatures different from those living today, and provided important support for another controversial suggestion of Cuvier's: that there had been an "[[Mesozoic|age of reptiles]]" when reptiles rather than mammals had been the dominant form of animal life. This phrase became popular after the publication in 1831 of a paper by Mantell entitled "The Age of Reptiles" that summarised the evidence that there had been an extended geological era when giant reptiles had swarmed the land, air, and sea.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cadbury|2000|pp=171–175}}</ref> These discoveries also played a key role in the development of a new discipline of geohistorical analysis within geology in the 1820s that sought to understand the history of the Earth by using evidence from fossils to reconstruct extinct organisms and the environments in which they lived. This discipline eventually came to be called [[paleontology|palaeontology]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Rudwick|2008|pp=57–58, 72}}</ref> Illustrations of scenes from "deep time" (now known as [[palaeoart]]), such as Henry De la Beche's ground-breaking painting ''Duria Antiquior'', helped convince people that it was possible to understand life in the distant past. De la Beche had been inspired to create the painting by a vivid description of the [[food chain]] of the [[early Jurassic|Lias]] by William Buckland that was based on analysis of coprolites. The study of coprolites, pioneered by Anning and Buckland, would prove to be a valuable tool for understanding ancient ecosystems.<ref name="Rudwick154">{{Harvnb|Rudwick|2008|pp=154–158}}</ref>

[[File:Mary Anning by B. J. Donne.jpg|thumb|alt=portrait of woman with bonnet, rock hammer, and small dog|Posthumous painting of Anning by B.&nbsp;J. Donne from 1847, based on the 1842 portrait at the head of this article, showing her pointing at an [[ammonite]]]]

Throughout the 20th century, beginning with H.&nbsp;A. Forde and his ''The Heroine of Lyme Regis: The Story of Mary Anning the Celebrated Geologist'' (1925), a number of writers saw Anning's life as inspirational. According to P.&nbsp;J. McCartney in ''Henry De la Beche: Observations on an Observer'' (1978), she was the basis of Terry Sullivan's lyrics to the 1908 song <ref>{{citation |last=Appleby |first=Valerie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFH9VRMkiwMC&pg=PA714 |title=Ladies with hammers |journal=New Scientist |issue=29 November |year=1979 |page=714}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> which, McCartney claimed, became the popular [[tongue twister]], "She Sells Seashells":<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.factfixx.com/2012/06/20/tongue-twisters-she-sells-sea-shells/ |title=Tongue Twisters: She Sells Sea Shells… |date=20 June 2012 |first=Jerome |last=Bourgault |access-date=29 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920053150/http://www.factfixx.com/2012/06/20/tongue-twisters-she-sells-sea-shells/ |archive-date=20 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaenamontanari/2015/05/21/mary-anning-from-selling-seashells-to-one-of-historys-most-important-paleontologists/ |title=Mary Anning: From Selling Seashells to One of History's Most Important Paleontologists |last=Montanar |first=Shaena |date=21 May 2015 |website=Forbes |access-date=3 November 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317223109/http://www.forbes.com/sites/shaenamontanari/2015/05/21/mary-anning-from-selling-seashells-to-one-of-historys-most-important-paleontologists/ |archive-date=17 March 2016}}</ref>

{{Quotation|<poem>
She sells seashells on the seashore
The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure
So if she sells seashells on the seashore
Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells.</poem>}}

However, Stephen Winick of the [[American Folklife Center]] has shown that no evidence has been presented for any causal connection between Anning and the lyrics (which are about a music-hall performer who has difficulty with tongue-twisters); in particular, Winick consulted McCartney's original text and discovered that not only did McCartney not provide any sources to support his statement, he merely said that Anning was "reputed to be" the subject of the song. Winick also pointed out that the tongue-twister pre-dated Sullivan by decades, and stated that there is a "very imperfect fit between the details of the song and those of Mary Anning's life", and "not even a real female character in the song, let alone anyone recognizable as Mary Anning", ultimately concluding that if the song was intended as a tribute to Anning, it is "a pretty ineffective one."<!-- that phrase is in the comments, not the post itself--><ref>{{cite web |last1=Winick |first1=Stephen |title=She Sells Seashells and Mary Anning: Metafolklore with a Twist {{!}} Folklife Today |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/07/she-sells-seashells-and-mary-anning-metafolklore-with-a-twist/ |website=blogs.loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=11 October 2017 |date=26 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220112443/https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/07/she-sells-seashells-and-mary-anning-metafolklore-with-a-twist/ |archive-date=20 February 2023}}</ref>

Much of the material written about Anning was aimed at children, and tended to focus on her childhood and early career. Much of it was also highly romanticised and not always historically accurate. Anning has been referenced in several historical novels, most notably in ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'' (1969) by [[John Fowles]], who was critical of the fact that no British scientist had named a species after her in her lifetime.<ref name="Torrens1995" />

In 1999, on the 200th anniversary of Anning's birth, an international meeting of historians, palaeontologists, fossil collectors, and others interested in her life was held in Lyme Regis.<ref>{{Harvnb|McGowan|2001|p=203}}</ref> In 2005 the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] added Anning, alongside scientists such as [[Carl Linnaeus]], [[Dorothea Bate]], and [[William Smith (geologist)|William Smith]], as one of the "gallery characters" (actors dressed in period costumes) it uses to walk around its display cases.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mary Anning Session |publisher=Natural History Museum |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/education/school-activities/gallery-characters/mary-anning-session/index.html |access-date=11 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Review of ''Discovering Dorothea'' |last=Russell |first=Miles |publisher=The Prehistoric Society |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/reviews/05_11_shindler.htm |access-date=3 March 2010 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606092730/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/reviews/05_11_shindler.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2007, American playwright/performer [[Claudia Stevens]] premiered ''Blue Lias, or the Fish Lizard's Whore'', a solo play with music by [[Allen Shearer]] depicting Anning in later life. Among the presenters of its thirty performances around the [[Charles Darwin]] bicentennial were the [[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]], museums of natural history at the [[University of Michigan]] and the [[University of Kansas]], and the [[Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History]].<ref>Claudia Stevens, ''Blue Lias, or the Fish Lizard's Whore'', video documentation, script, performance history, Claudia Stevens papers, Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/?p=collections/controlcard&id=8096</ref> 

In 2009, [[Tracy Chevalier]] wrote a historical novel entitled ''Remarkable Creatures'', in which Anning and Elizabeth Philpot were the main characters. Another historical novel about Anning, ''Curiosity'' by Joan Thomas, was published in March 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Charles |first=Ron |date=13 January 2010 |title=Book World: Ron Charles reviews 'Remarkable Creatures' by Tracy Chevalier |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203279.html |access-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831135101/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203279.html |archive-date=31 August 2022 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sutcliffe |first=J. C. |date=26 March 2010 |title=Review: Curiosity, by Joan Thomas |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/review-curiosity-by-joan-thomas/article4312807/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831141057/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/review-curiosity-by-joan-thomas/article4312807/ |archive-date=31 August 2022}}</ref>

In 2010, 163 years after her death, the [[Royal Society]] included Anning in a list of the ten British women who have most influenced the history of science.<ref name="mostInfluential">{{cite web |title=Most influential British women in the history of science |url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2010/influential-british-women/ |access-date=11 September 2010 |publisher=The Royal Society}}</ref>

In 1902, the [[Lyme Regis Museum]] was built on the site of her former home. It was commissioned by Thomas Philpot, a relative of the Philpot sisters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Museum, Building and Collections |url=https://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/about-us/ |access-date=15 February 2023 |website=Lyme Regis Museum |language=en-GB}}</ref> The area where she collected fossils is now part of the [[Jurassic Coast]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Mary Anning – Museum of the Earth |language=en-US |work=Museum of the Earth |url=https://www.museumoftheearth.org/daring-to-dig/bio/anning |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref>

In 2021, the [[Royal Mint]] issued sets of [[commemorative coin|commemorative]] [[Fifty pence (British coin)|fifty pence]] coins called ''The Mary Anning Collection'', minted in acknowledgement of her lack of recognition as "one of Britain's greatest fossil hunters."<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2021 |title=The Royal Mint celebrates fossil hunter Mary Anning with a new commemorative 50p coin collection |website=www.royalmint.com |publisher=Royal Mint |location=Llantrisant |language=en |url=https://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/press-centre/the-royal-mint-celebrates-fossil-hunter-mary-anning-with-a-new-commemorative-50p-coin-collection |access-date=28 September 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511031414/https://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/press-centre/the-royal-mint-celebrates-fossil-hunter-mary-anning-with-a-new-commemorative-50p-coin-collection |archive-date=11 May 2024}}</ref> The coins have images of ''[[Temnodontosaurus]]'', ''[[Plesiosaurus]]'' and ''[[Dimorphodon]]'', which she discovered, and her discoveries were "often overlooked at a time when the scientific world was dominated by men",<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 February 2021 |title=Mary Anning: Fossil hunter celebrated with Jurassic 50p coins |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-56182579 |access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref> and as "a working-class woman."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=25 February 2021 |title=Royal Mint to commemorate fossil hunter Mary Anning |url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/25/royal-mint-commemorate-fossil-hunter-mary-anning-50p-coins |access-date=25 February 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

In March 2024, the [[Royal Mail]] issued a set of four stamps celebrating Mary Anning and her discoveries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Age of the Dinosaurs – Special Stamp Issues |url=https://shop.royalmail.com/special-stamp-issues/the-age-of-the-dinosaurs |access-date=5 March 2024 |website=shop.royalmail.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=New Royal Mail stamps will feature dinosaurs and celebrate Mary Anning |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2024/march/royal-mail-stamps-feature-dinosaurs-and-celebrate-mary-anning.html |access-date=5 March 2024 |website=www.nhm.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nunn |first=Ella |date=5 March 2024 |title=Fossil hunter Mary Anning celebrated on Royal Mail stamps |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/fossil-hunter-mary-anning-celebrated-on-royal-mail-stamps-b1143284.html |access-date=5 March 2024 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=5 March 2024 |title=Mary Anning: Stamps celebrating pioneering fossil hunter revealed |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-68470305 |access-date=5 March 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In May 2024, a book that once belonged to Anning was returned to the museum in Lyme Regis from [[Australia]] on her 225th birthday.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-23 |title=Book belonging to Mary Anning stolen from museum is finally returned - 40 years later |url=https://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/24337157.book-belonging-mary-anning-returned-lyme-regis-museum/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=Bridport and Lyme Regis News |language=en}}</ref> It is thought that the copy of JS Miller's ''Natural History of the Crinoidea'' was stolen between 1946 and 1979, before [[Museums Victoria]] bought the book for £300 from Blackwell's booksellers of [[Oxford]] in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-22 |title=Lyme Regis: Lost Mary Anning book back in UK after chance find |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv223d5zyg6o |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Eponyms ===
The only person who did name a species after Anning during her lifetime was the Swiss-American naturalist, [[Louis Agassiz]]. In the early 1840s, he named two fossil fish species after Anning—''[[Acrodus anningiae]]'', and ''Belonostomus anningiae'' (now ''[[Saurorhynchus anningiae]]'')—and another after her friend [[Elizabeth Philpot]]. Agassiz was grateful for the help the women had given him in examining fossil fish specimens during his visit to Lyme Regis in 1834.<ref name="Emling169" /> After Anning's death, other species, including the [[ostracod]] ''[[Cytherelloidea anningi]]'', and two genera, the [[Therapsida|therapsid]] reptile genus ''[[Anningia]]'', and the [[Bivalvia|bivalve]] [[Mollusca|mollusc]] genus ''[[Anningella]]'', were named in her honour.<ref name="Torrens1995" /><ref>{{citation |title=Encyclopedia of Paleontology |url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routpaleont/anning_mary |year=1999 |contribution=Anning, Mary |format=CREDO subscription required}}</ref> In 2012, the plesiosaur genus ''[[Anningasaura]]'' was named after Anning<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vincent |first1=P. |last2=Benson |first2=R. B. J. |year=2012 |title=''Anningasaura'', a basal plesiosaurian (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, United Kingdom |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=32 |issue=5 |page=1049 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2012.686467 |bibcode=2012JVPal..32.1049V |s2cid=86547069}}</ref> and the species ''[[Ichthyosaurus anningae]]'' was named after her in 2015.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lomax |first1=D. R. |last2=Massare |first2=J. A. |year=2015 |title=A new species of ''Ichthyosaurus'' from the Lower Jurassic of West Dorset, England, U.K |url=http://osf.io/89nhw |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=e903260 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2014.903260 |bibcode=2015JVPal..35E3260L |s2cid=85745787}}</ref>

In 1991 ''Anning Paterae'', a cluster of shallow volcanoes in the northern hemisphere of [[Venus]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=1991 |others=in ''Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature'' by the [[IAU]] Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) |title=Planetary Names |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/285 |access-date= |website=}}</ref> and in 1999, ''(3919) Maryanning'', an [[asteroid]] were named after her.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999 |title=The Minor Planet Circulars/Minor Planets and Comets |url=https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/1999/MPC_19990504.pdf |website=Minor Planet Center, [[Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory]], [[Cambridge, MA]] |page=34619}}</ref> In 2018, a new research and survey vessel was launched as ''Mary Anning'' for [[Swansea University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The R. V. Mary Anning |url=https://www.swansea.ac.uk/bioscience/undergraduate/marine-biology-field-course/rv-mary-anning/ |access-date=23 May 2019 |publisher=Swansea University |archive-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523234811/https://www.swansea.ac.uk/bioscience/undergraduate/marine-biology-field-course/rv-mary-anning/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Statue===
{{main article|Statue of Mary Anning}}
[[File:Head on view of the statue of Mary Anning.jpg|thumb|The statue of Anning in Lyme Regis|right|alt=A bronze statue of Mary Anning striding forward, with a pickaxe in one hand and a fossil in the other.|upright=.7]]

In August 2018, a campaign called "''Mary Anning Rocks''" was formed by an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Dorset, Evie Swire, supported by her mother Anya Pearson.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 January 2021 |title=Lyme Regis Mary Anning statue designs released |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-55546699 |access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref> The campaign was set up to remember Anning in her hometown of Lyme Regis by erecting a statue and creating a learning legacy in her name.<ref name="GuardianStatue">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/16/hopes-rise-for-statue-of-pioneering-fossil-hunter-mary-anning |title=Hopes rise for statue of pioneering fossil hunter Mary Anning |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=16 December 2019 |access-date=13 October 2020 |author=Addley, E.}}</ref> A crowdfunding campaign began but was put on hold due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]];<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Change of plans for Mary Anning's 221st birthday celebrations |url=https://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/18426410.campaign-group-mary-anning-rocks-finds-new-ways-celebrate-mary-annings-birthday-coronavirus-pandemic/ |access-date=15 October 2020 |website=Bridport and Lyme Regis News |date=5 May 2020 |author=Davis, J.}}</ref> it resumed in November 2020, led by the charity ''Mary Anning Rocks''.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=23 November 2020 |title=Appeal launched for Mary Anning statue in Lyme Regis |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-55042431 |access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref> By January 2021, the sculptor Denise Dutton had been commissioned to produce the work.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Davies2021">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/19/statue-fossil-hunter-mary-anning-erected-campaign-lyme-regis |title=Statue of fossil hunter Mary Anning to be erected after campaign |work=The Guardian |date=19 January 2021 |access-date=5 October 2021 |author=Davies, Caroline}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The sculptor bringing Dorset palaeontologist Mary Anning to life {{!}} Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-sculptor-bringing-dorset-palaeontologist-mary-anning-to-life |access-date=2 June 2022 |website=artuk.org}}</ref> The statue was granted planning permission by Dorset Council for a space overlooking [[Black Ven]], where Anning made many of her finds. [[Alice Roberts|Professor Alice Roberts]] and Swire unveiled the statue on 21 May 2022, the 223rd anniversary of Anning's birth.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 January 2022 |title=Mary Anning: Lyme Regis statue of fossil-hunting pioneer approved |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-59846732 |access-date=2 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Statue of fossil-hunting pioneer Mary Anning to be unveiled in Dorset |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/may/21/mary-anning-fossil-hunting-pioneer-statue-lyme-regis-dorset |access-date=21 May 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=21 May 2022}}</ref>

=== In fiction ===
Mary Anning appears in the web manga ''Learn Even More with Manga!'', derived from the 2015 video game ''[[Fate/Grand Order]]''. Her depiction in that manga brings several features from Anning's life into play, such as fossil-collecting gear, fossils, and live versions of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.<ref name=salvador2021>{{cite journal |author1=Salvador, Rodrigo B. |year=2021 |title=Mary Anning: fossil collector, paleontologist, and heroic spirit. |journal=Journal of Geek Studies |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=19–32 |url=https://jgeekstudies.org/2021/02/11/mary-anning-fossil-collector-paleontologist-and-heroic-spirit/}}</ref> In 2022, Anning was added to the video game ''Fate/Grand Order'' as a [[Gacha game|gacha]] character for a limited time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Liu |first1=Stephanie |title=FGO Mississippi Mythicizers Event Features Riyo Servants |url=https://www.siliconera.com/fgo-mississippi-mythicizers-event-features-riyo-servants/ |website=Siliconera |access-date=21 May 2024 |date=28 April 2022}}</ref>

The film ''[[Ammonite (film)|Ammonite]]'', directed by [[Francis Lee (director)|Francis Lee]], and based on segments of Anning's life and legacy, premiered at the [[2020 Toronto International Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About TIFF '20 |url=https://www.tiff.net/about-tiff-20 |access-date=24 June 2020 |website=TIFF}}</ref> [[Kate Winslet]] portrays Anning and [[Saoirse Ronan]] portrays Charlotte Murchison, with the two engaged in a fictional [[lesbian]] relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Benjamin |date=25 August 2020 |title=Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan fall in love in first Ammonite trailer |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/aug/25/ammonite-trailer-kate-winslet-saoirse-ronan-mary-anning |access-date=26 August 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>