Iconic fossilMary Anning's Plesiosaurus
Plesiosaurus
Found in 1823 by Mary Anning
Lyme Regis, Dorset
Museum: Natural History Museum, London
On 10 December 1823 Mary Anning found the first complete skeleton of Plesiosaurus, a marine reptile with an unprecedentedly long neck of 35 vertebrae. Georges Cuvier at first suspected a fake, but in 1824 the Geological Society concluded that the skeleton was genuine; Cuvier later admitted he had been mistaken.
Plesiosaurus →
Image: Credited to 'Mr. Grey' in Crispin Tickell's book 'Mary Anning of Lyme Regis' (1996) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Wikipedia: Mary Anning