In her final months, though women were not allowed to join the esteemed Geological Society, Mary Anning was nevertheless made an honorary member. Today she's recognised as the first female palaeontologist and one of the people who provided evidence that changed our thinking on the age of the planet and the story of life on earth. In Mary Anning's day any new find was cleaned up with the use of brushes and the careful use of chisels. But inevitably, on occasion things would get broken. Nowadays there's a whole department dedicated to teasing the secrets out from the rocks. Scott Moore-Fay is part of the Palaeontological Conservation Unit. He grinds stone away from fossils with tools you might be more used to seeing at the dentist.


当时女性无法加入贵族地质学会，但在玛丽最后的岁月里，她仍然被纳为荣誉会员。如今她被尊为首个女性古生物学家，并曾助力启蒙，改变人们心中的地球历史，阐释生命演变奥秘。在玛丽·安宁的时代，新化石都是用刷子与凿子小心清理。然而仍然难免偶尔损伤化石。现在，有一整个部门，致力与从岩石里发掘自然的奥秘，斯科特·默菲是古生物保护小组成员。他用类似牙医工具的仪器，将化石上的石块磨碎清除。