The fossil hunter

by Shelley Emling

"Mary Anning was only twelve years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton - an ichthyosaur - while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. The child of a poor family, Mary became a fossil hunter, inspiring the tongue-twister, "She Sells Sea Shells by the Seashore." She attracted the attention of fossil collectors and, eventually, of the scientific world. At the time, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct but 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." "A story worthy of Dickens, The Fossil Hunter chronicles the life of this young girl with dirt under her fingernails and without a shilling to buy dinner, 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.""--Jacket.