Dorset Museum to honor fossil hunter Mary Anning with 2027 exhibition curated by Tracy Chevalier

In 2027, the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery will host a significant exhibition honoring Mary Anning, a trailblazing fossil hunter, marking 180 years since her passing. The exhibition will be guest curated by acclaimed author Tracy Chevalier. Anning (1799-1847), well-known along the Lyme Regis coast, has only recently been acknowledged for her contributions to paleontology. Her findings of extinct marine reptiles in the early 1800s contradicted the prevailing religious views of the time, which held that species could not become extinct. In addition to discovering fossils, she also cleaned, sold, and studied them, honing her anatomical knowledge.