Mary Anning · Science
Anning noticed that the ‘bezoar stones’ in her reptiles’ bellies were fossilized dung, full of fish scales and bones. From these humblest of fossils she and Buckland reconstructed diet, digestion, and the ancient food chain - reading not just a body but a living ecosystem.
You learned that Anning recognized ‘bezoar stones’ as fossilized dung (which Buckland named coprolites ), that their contents - fish scales, bones, sometimes belemnite ink - reveal ancient diet and digestion, and that trace fossils let you read behavior and an ecosystem, not just anatomy. Explain how a cop…
Leads to William Buckland.
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