In 1811, a boy named Joseph Anning discovered the first ichthyosaur fossils that would come to be scientifically recognized as such.

Who found first ichthyosaur?

Its discoverer, Mary Anning, lived and worked in the English coastal town of Lyme Regis, finding and selling fossils. She made many important discoveries in the Jurassic rocks there, including the first plesiosaur to be scientifically described, and many other ichthyosaur skeletons.

When did Mary Anning find the ichthyosaur?

In 1811, at the age of just 12, Mary discovered a 5.2m (17ft) skeleton, now known to be an ichthyosaur. Twelve years later, she found the first complete skeleton of a plesiosaur, a marine reptile so bizarre that scientists thought it was a fake.