#24 She Has Seven Fossil Species Named After Her
All the historical data on Mary Anning focuses on her childhood or her early career. The material that exists is romanticized, making it a historically inaccurate representation of her life.
Many famous geologists like Roderick Murchison and William Buckland used Mary’s finds and had their names named after species.
The lack of recognition for her talent during her lifetime was astounding.
However, finally, Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-American naturalist, named two, not one fossil fish species after Anning in the early 1840s. After her death, many species and two genera were named after her.
They are the ostracod Cytherelloidea anningi, the therapsid reptile genus Anningia, and the bivalve mollusc genus Anningella.
Most recently two species, the plesiosaur genus Anningasaura and Ichthyosaurus anningae, were named after her in 2012 and 2015.
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