Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon

MATT SALUSBURY asks if one of palæontology’s most sensational finds was originally named after a lethal cryptid from a 1749 edition of The Gentlemen’s Magazine… Among the great stories from the history of palæontology is that of how Mary Anning, then aged 12, together with her brother, discovered the first identified prehistoric marine reptile. Mary’s brother Joseph found the skull of what became known as Ichthyosaurus in the cliffs between their native Lyme Regis and Charmouth in 1811. From the time of Joseph’s discovery of the skull, the name “sea dragon” attached itself to the find – apparently because of its many sharp teeth and its big eye sockets. After the Annings’ discovery of the skull, Mary found the neck and partial torso of the same animal the following year.…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 449

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