The Science Book

116

SHE KNOWS TO

WHAT TRIBE THE

BONES BELONG

MARY ANNING (1799–1847)

B

y the end of the 18th

century, it was generally

accepted that fossils

were the remains of once living

organisms that had been petrified

as the sediment around them

hardened into rock. Both fossils

and living organisms had been

classified for the first time into

a hierarchy of species, genera,

and families by naturalists such

as the Swedish taxonomist Carl

Linnaeus. However, fossil remains

were still seen in isolation

from their environmental and

biological context.

In the early 19th century, the

discovery of large fossilized bones

unlike those of any living animal

raised many new questions. Where

IN CONTEXT

BRANCH

Paleontology

BEFORE

11th century Persian scholar

Avicenna (Ibn Sina) suggests

that rocks can be formed from

petrified fluids, leading to the

formation of fossils.

1753 Carl Linnaeus includes

fossils in his system of

biological classification.

AFTER

1830 British artist Henry De

la Beche paints one of the first

paleo-reconstructions of a

scene from “deep time.”

1854 Richard Owen and

Benjamin Waterhouse

Hawkins make the first

life-size reconstructions of

extinct plants and animals.

Early 20th century The

development of radiometric

dating techniques allows

scientists to date fossils

according to the rock strata

in which they are found.

did they fit into the classification

systems, and when had they

become extinct? Within the Judeo-

Christian culture of the Western

world, it was generally thought that

a benevolent God would not have

allowed any of his creations to

die out.

Monsters from the abyss

Some of the first of these large

and distinctive fossil remains were

found by the Anning family of fossil

collectors around Lyme Regis on

the coast of southern England.

Here, Jurassic-period limestone and

shale strata outcrop in the cliffs,

where they are eroded by the sea to

reveal abundant remains of ancient

marine organisms. In 1811, Joseph

Fossils are the preserved

remains of plants

and animals.

Fossils have been

found of large animals

no longer around today.

In the past, very different animals lived on Earth.