Some information on the prehistoric reptiles discovered by Mary Anning in the seaside cliffs at Lyme Regis. All date from the early Jurassic period, between 200-175 million years ago.
Temnodontosaurus means ‘cutting-tooth lizard’ from the Greek temno ‘to cut’, odont ‘tooth’ and sauros ‘lizard’. It is one of the oldest and largest Ichthyosaurs (meaning fish lizards) known. It was a particularly fiercesome marine reptile, an apex predator, growing up to 10m long and had the largest eyes (football-size) known of any vertebrate, surrounded by sclerotic rings (bony support), giving it extremely acute eyesight with protection against high pressure, allowing it to hunt at all depths of the Jurassic ocean.
The first scientifically recognised Temnodontosaurus was found by Mary Anning (aged 12) and her brother Joseph 1811-12. Joseph spotted the fossilised skull and Mary uncovered it to reveal the first complete Ichthyosaur fossil to be found. It was described in 1814 by Sir Everard Home, an anatomist with the Royal College of Surgeons.
Plesiosaurus, meaning ‘near lizard’, was a large marine reptile measuring between 3 to 5m in length. It had a small, short skull with conical teeth, very long neck, four paddle-like flippers and a short tail. Its neck could not be raised high and was constricted in its ability to sweep from side-to-side. Its conical teeth and long neck seemed to make it an adept ambush predator, living mostly on fish and belemnites (cephalopod molluscs).
The first specimen discovered by Mary Anning in 1820-21 in Lyme Regis was missing its skull. In Dec 1823 she found another one, this time with its skull - the first complete skeleton of Plesiosaurus to be discovered. British geologist William Conybeare published a paper on the discovery in 1824. The structure of society at the time made it impossible for Mary to publicly participate in science and most of her discoveries were published by men with whom she collaborated.
Dimorphodon, meaning ‘two-form tooth’, was a medium-sized pterosaur (winged reptile) and was one of the first large animals to travel by air. It had a large, bulky skull and the species was unique among pterosaurs because it had two types of teeth like that of a mammal, several large pointed teeth at the front with smaller ones at the back. It was probably a forest dweller living on a diet of insects.
In 1828 Mary Anning uncovered a strange jumble of bones, this time with a long tail and wings. It was a partial skeleton without a skull. What she found were the first remains attributed to a Dimorphodon. It was the first pterosaur ever discovered outside Germany. Geologist and palaeontologist William Buckland published a paper on the new species in 1835, crediting Anning with the discovery.
