Mary Anning was a British fossil collector, dealer

Fossil trade

Fossil trading is the practice of buying and selling fossils. This is many times done illegally with stolen fossils, and many important scientific specimens are lost each year...

 and palaeontologist who became known around the world for a number of important finds she made in the Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 age marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...

 where she lived. Her work contributed to the fundamental changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the earth that occurred in the early 19th century.

Anning searched for fossils in the area's Blue Lias

Blue Lias

The Blue Lias is a geologic formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago...

 cliffs, particularly during the winter months when landslides exposed new fossils that had to be collected quickly, before they were lost to the sea.