The Fossil Hunter

Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World

By: Shelley Emling

Narrated by: Rachael Beresford

Mary Anning was only 12 years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton - of an ichthyosaur - while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Until Mary's incredible discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct. The child of a poor family, Mary became a fossil hunter, inspiring the tongue-twister "she sells seashells by the seashore". She attracted the attention of fossil collectors and eventually the scientific world. Once news of the fossils reached the halls of academia, it became impossible to ignore the truth. Mary's peculiar finds helped lay the groundwork for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, laid out in his On the Origin of Species. Darwin drew on Mary's fossilized creatures as irrefutable evidence that life in the past was nothing like life in the present.

A story worthy of Dickens, The Fossil Hunter chronicles the life of this young girl, who became a world-renowned paleontologist. Dickens himself said of Mary, "The carpenter's daughter has won a name for herself, and deserved to win it."

Here at last, Shelley Emling returns Mary Anning - who, Stephen J. Gould remarked, is "probably the most important unsung (or inadequately sung) collecting force in the history of paleontology" - to her deserved place in history.

©2009 Shelley Emling (P)2020 Tantor

Well researched

I’ve been waiting for this book to be available in audio format! I loved how Rachael Beresford read the book.
The story itself was well researched and included lots of historical details that helped set the context for the time period and fit Anning’s discoveries in the timeline of geological discovery. This was important for a novice like me to understand the gravity of her finds.
Overall the story was a bit depressing because Mary seemed to be a joke within her community and was kept out of the male-only academic setting. She died alone and in pain; such a tragic life. I hope some historical fiction is written about her life because it’s incredibly extraordinary and more need to learn about her.

Mary Anning gets her due credit!!

We were just in London at the huge Natural History Museum where there is a picture of her. There are her two fossil discoveries on the wall!! NOW she gets her due credit!!
I’m glad to be able to read a thorough account of her life. The author does not gloss over her difficulties and includes many details about her whole life. A good listen !! Thank you.

Fascinating look at a forgotten woman

4 stars - It was really good

This was a wonderful look at Mary Anning and her life discovery dinosaurs. At twelve, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton, an ichthyosaur, and then spent the rest of her life hunting fossils and making many incredible finds. She found the first complete plesiosaurus skeleton, found the first fossil of a dimorphodon (a pterodactyl), and found a fish fossil of a squaloraja, which is an ancestor of sharks and rays. This woman made amazing discoveries but unfortunately since she was a woman she was rarely credited with the finds and wasn’t able to join the Geological Society of London, who were in charge of naming her finds and other things.

This book was just a fascinating look at early fossil hunting and how it changed the world. This book discusses religion heavily because finding dinosaurs challenged the idea that god created the world in seven days and brought about the idea of extinction, both of which were heavily challenged by the church. It was very interesting since I had never considered how it had impacted the world at that time.

Mary was a fascinating woman who not only defied expectations by not marrying, she worked, she had a business, she bought her own home, she took care of her mother, and she spent her life doing what she loved, hunting fossils, even if she never got the recognition she deserved. I never knew her name before hearing about this book and it’s a shame that such a remarkable woman has mostly been forgotten by the world.

CW: Death of multiple family members; death of a pet; cancer; Discussions of starvation, homelessness, poverty, patriarchy, slavery, and war.