Mary Anning with her dog Tray, painted before 1842. The Golden Cap outcrop can be seen in the background. Anning (1799 -1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer and paleontologist who became known around the world for a number of important finds she made in the Jurassic Age marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis where she lived. Her work contributed to fundamental changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the earth that occurred in the early 19th century. Among her many other discoveries, Anning is credited with finding the first specimen of Ichthyosaurus acknowledged by the Geological Society in London. She died of breast cancer in 1847.