Anningiae: how gender bias and myth making obscure who the real Mary Anning was. The Anning we celebrate today is based on sexist and classist biases meant to belittle her true scientific accomplishments. Anning was not a simple country woman selling sea shells by the sea shore.
Mary Anning owed her aptitude as a paleontologist to her friends and colleagues. The sexist beliefs of some of these allies also prevented her from reaching her full potential. This week, I look into how Mary’s relationships shaped her and inform us on her real personality.
In honor of Black History Month, I take a hard look at a real problem in paleontology. Why is paleontology so white? Why are there so few paleontologists of color? What can we do to fix paleontology’s race problem?
Mary Anning was one of the most important paleontologists in history. In part 1 of this series we look at her contributions to paleontology.
Calcareous nannofossil species are 3.5x as likely to be named after men than women, a subtle sign of gender bias in paleontology.
I start a series on the top 5 diverse paleontologists most people don’t know about.
An introduction to the concept I call “bias in the fossil record” where the contributions of women and minorities to geology and paleontology are hidden from history.
Bias in the Fossil Record 