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The first ichthyosaur fossil — destroyed by the Nazis — had hidden copies. 2 of them have been found!
The first complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur was lost during World War II. It was most likely destroyed during the bombing of London. However, scientists have just discovered two plaster casts of it. One is in a museum in Berlin.
When Mary Anning, the daughter of an English craftsman, was exploring the cliffs in County Dorset, the word “dinosaur” did not yet exist. It was the early nineteenth century, and it would take another twenty years before dinosaurs would appear in scientific literature.
However, fossils of large extinct reptiles were already well known. Indeed, as late as the 18th century, bones of animals were found that did not resemble any of the living ones. The first pioneers of paleontology began to postulate studying them in an orderly manner and with the help of the just emerging scientific methods. Collecting fossils began to become fashionable.
Mary Anning was born in 1799 in the town of Lyme Regis on the English coast. Near her home stretched the cliffs from which her father, in order to make a living, excavated fossils. When he died, teenage Mary took over this occupation from him. She found skulls and bones of the animal, which was then called Proteosaurus. Probably around 1811–1812, she also found its…
