Have you ever heard of a tongue twister? Tongue twisters are English sentences that are designed to be hard to say. Try saying this five times fast:
She sells seashells on the seashore.
Any native English speaker will have learned this tongue twister as a child, but what many people don’t know is that it is based on a real person. Who is this woman who sells seashells on the seashore? It’s Mary Anning, the unsung hero of modern Paleontology.
Mary Anning was born to a poor family in the year 1799 in the southern English coastal town of Lyme Regis. She and her brother Joseph were the only two out of their ten siblings to survive through their childhood years. Mary almost didn’t survive her childhood either. According to local legend, Mary almost died while being held in the arms of a local woman when that woman was struck by lightning. While the woman holding her died, Mary survived. The local doctor said her survival was a miracle, and people often said that Mary gained her intelligence and curiosity from that lightning strike.
During Mary Anning’s lifetime, many locals in Lyme Regis went to the coastal cliffs, collected fossils, and then sold them to tourists. This was an incredibly dangerous occupation, as the waves were rough, and the cliffs were unstable due to landslides. These landslides almost killed Mary and did kill her dog in 1833. Though dangerous, landslides also uncovered curious-looking rocks, now known as fossils.
When Mary was 12, she and her brother were fossil hunting when they discovered a giant skull sticking out of the cliff face. Mary uncovered the rest of the skull, and in the process, discovered sixty vertebrae of what she thought was a crocodile. She removed the skull and vertebrae, sold them to a private collector, and earned her family a little extra money. This ‘crocodile’ turned out to be a dinosaur and was later given the name, Ichthyosaurus, or “fish-lizard.” Mary went on to discover more specimens of Ichthyosaurus, as well as a complete fossil skeleton of a Plesiosaurus and a Pterodactyl.
Since she was born to a poor family, she had little education, but she managed to teach herself anatomy and geology. Throughout her career, famous scientists would visit her for advice, but she never got full credit for many of her discoveries. To most people today, she is only the unnamed seller of seashells in a children’s tongue twister.
Give your tongue a workout with the full version:
She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashells, I’m sure.
For if she sells seashells on the seashore
Then I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
References:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mary-anning-an-amazing-fossil-hunter-60691902/?no-ist
https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mary-anning-google-doogle-fossil-hunter-20140521-story.html
Have you ever heard of a tongue twister? Tongue twisters are English sentences that are hard to say. Try saying this five times fast:
She sells seashells on the seashore.
Many English speakers learn this tongue twister as a child. Few know that it is based on a real person. Who is this woman who sells seashells on the seashore? It’s Mary Anning, the unsung hero of paleontology.
Mary Anning was born in 1799 to a poor family in a town in southern England close to the sea. She and her brother Joseph were the only two out of ten children to live to be adults. Mary almost died as a child. She was in the arms of a local woman when that woman was hit by lightning. The woman holding her died, but Mary lived. The doctor said it was a miracle. People often said that Mary got her intelligence from that lightning strike.
During Mary’s life, many people went to seaside cliffs to find fossils and then sell them to tourists. This was a dangerous job. The waves were rough, and the cliffs were high. A landslide almost killed Mary and did kill her dog in 1833. Though dangerous, landslides also uncovered fossils.
When Mary was 12, she and her brother were fossil hunting when they discovered a giant skull. Mary also found sixty vertebrae. She thought it was a crocodile. She sold the bones and made a little money for her family. This ‘crocodile’ turned out to be a dinosaur. Mary went on to find many more dinosaur bones.
Mary had little education, but she managed to teach herself anatomy and geology. Famous scientists would often visit her for advice. In her life, she never got credit for many of her discoveries. To most people today, she is only the unnamed seller of seashells in a children’s tongue twister.
Give your tongue a workout with the full version:
She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashells, I’m sure.
For if she sells seashells on the seashore
Then I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
References:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mary-anning-an-amazing-fossil-hunter-60691902/?no-ist
https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mary-anning-google-doogle-fossil-hunter-20140521-story.html
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