![]() Her early finds were claimed by male scientists of the era. ![]() Mary found some of the earliest examples of plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs which people thought were types of crocodiles. ![]() Mary taught Elizabeth how to properly clean fossils, while Elizabeth taught her how to keep proper records of where the fossils were found, what type they were, etc. Elizabeth had the time to study fossils and learn about them. Where the river Lyme poured into the sea, she searched for fossil fish as a way to pass time, eventually turning a hobby into a serious study. Elizabeth Philpot was one of three middle class spinster sisters who moved to Lyme Regis in 1805. She is described as “having the fossil hunters’ tendency always to be looking for something, even when in the street or in a house where there is no possibility of finding anything of interest.” Among the “curies” she finds are snakestones (ammonites), sea lilies (crinoids), vertebrae, bezoars (coprolites), thunderbolts (belemnites), and devil’s toenails (gryphaea – bivalves). ![]() Mary outdid the rest of her family at finding fossils. Mary Anning was the daughter of a cabinet maker who taught her to collect “curies” along the shore to sell to tourists in order to supplement the family income. Remarkable Creatures is the fictionalized story of the unlikely friendship of two English women in the early 1800s. ![]()
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