BREAKING GROUND
William Buckland and Mary Morland were a great match. When they married in 1825, he, a geologist and she, a scientific illustrator, had already collaborated to describe Megalosaurus, the world’s first named dinosaur.
The Bucklands settled in Oxford, where their work together – collecting, recording, analysing, theorising – laid modern palaeontology’s foundations.
But society treated William and Mary differently. Mary was barred from the exclusive communities that embraced her husband – a university academic and clergyman. Over time, she became invisible, like countless others in the history of science.
This exhibition explores the colourful Buckland archives and collections, now in the Museum’s care. And it reveals a cast of unsung heroes whose work helped establish scientific methods that guide research today.
Gather your data
Every rock. Every fossil. Everything collected during fieldwork is a clue. This hard-won evidence will tell a vivid story about ancient life on our planet. Modern palaeontologists dig in all weathers and get their hands dirty, just as in the past. Although the clothing they wear may have changed, many of their tools remain the same.
On location with the Bucklands
William Buckland loved fieldwork and thrived in the outdoors. He used all his senses to interpret the landscape geologically. Once, having lost his way while travelling in the fog, he got down from his horse and smelled a handful of earth. ‘Uxbridge!’, he declared. Mary Buckland (née Morland) was an experienced illustrator, accustomed to recording fossil finds and their context during field trips. Her diagrams, sketches and notes were vital in analysing new discoveries. Everyone had their expertise – but all were not equal. Women of the period were often hampered by long skirts and the need for a chaperone.
Geological tours
William Buckland travelled several times to Europe to collect specimens with scientific colleagues. But perhaps his most extravagant geological tour was the year-long honeymoon trip he and Mary took in 1826. She enthusiastically and expertly recorded the characteristics of every landscape they visited in her diary. In Provence, France, the couple descended a picturesque ravine edged with dazzling white rock formations, and Mary collected various land shells, new to her. At Massa in Tuscany, Italy, they explored the quarry famous for producing high quality Carrara marble for statue-making.
Mary Morland, natural historian
The young Mary Morland spent time living with family friends Sir Christopher and Lady Amy Pegge in Oxford after the early death of her mother. Sir Christopher was Professor of Anatomy at Christ Church College and an avid mineral collector. Encouraged by the Pegges, Mary’s interest in the natural world grew. She inherited and built an impressive collection of shells, rocks and fossils. After her marriage to William Buckland, Mary curated their amassed collections, and managed loans of specimens and drawings to scientific colleagues.
It takes a village
Typically, a host of people contribute to any discovery in palaeontology. The Bucklands’ network included scientific colleagues such as William Conybeare and George Greenough, and professional fossil-hunters including Mary Anning. It also encompassed wealthy enthusiasts like Lady Mary Cole. But quarry workers who sought and excavated specimens with a hammer and pick are nameless. The Bucklands’ work could not have progressed without these people – in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, and in the Siwalik Hills of India. And yet, in societies stratified by class or ethnicity, their contributions were deemed insignificant at the time.
Colonial collecting
Like other products of imperialism, fossil hunting was often exploitative and extractive. In the Indian subcontinent it took place without acknowledgement of local ownership or credit for discovery. The Bucklands had contacts in India, where Britain’s East India Company was expanding its colonial influence. Lewis Robert Stacy was an officer stationed in the foothills of the Himalayas, and, through his links with Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, shipped many fossil specimens to William Buckland. The first to arrive in 1836, from the Siwalik Hills, are thought to be the earliest such examples in the UK.
Going to the source
Mary Anning’s expertise in finding and preparing fossil specimens made her a household name in palaeontology. She broke through gender barriers that stratified 19th-century society. Her discovery of the first skeletons recognised as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs changed how science understood the diversity of prehistoric life. Her meticulous observations helped establish palaeontology as a serious science. Despite their differences in class and status, Mary Anning and William Buckland struck up a friendship and fruitful collaboration. He would join her fossil-hunts in Lyme Regis, and often arrange purchases of her best finds.
Originally thought to be Mary Anning fossil hunting, this sketch by Thomas Sopwith in 1841 depicts William Buckland in his field attire in North Wales.
Originally thought to be Mary Anning fossil hunting, this sketch by Thomas Sopwith in 1841 depicts William Buckland in his field attire in North Wales.
Limestone, pink with alteration bands collected by William Buckland while on tour in Europe in 1816 near Dole, Jura, France.
Limestone, pink with alteration bands collected by William Buckland while on tour in Europe in 1816 near Dole, Jura, France.
Brittle Star (Ophiura ophiura) from Mary Buckland's collection.
Brittle Star (Ophiura ophiura) from Mary Buckland's collection.
Letter from David Oliver, a Stonesfield quarry worker, to William Buckland in December 1814.
Letter from David Oliver, a Stonesfield quarry worker, to William Buckland in December 1814.
William Buckland drew this skull of the Sivatherium in 1837, a large ancestor of the modern giraffe that inhabited Europe, Asia and Africa from the Late Miocene (7 million years ago) until the Early Pleistocene (1 million years ago).
William Buckland drew this skull of the Sivatherium in 1837, a large ancestor of the modern giraffe that inhabited Europe, Asia and Africa from the Late Miocene (7 million years ago) until the Early Pleistocene (1 million years ago).
Dapedium politum, an extinct fish from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old) Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. Purchased from Mary Anning by Beriah Botfield and presented to William Buckland in 1830.
Dapedium politum, an extinct fish from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old) Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. Purchased from Mary Anning by Beriah Botfield and presented to William Buckland in 1830.
Oxfordshire’s fossil life
A lush landscape rippling with creeks and lagoons, Oxfordshire was very different 166 million years ago. The humid climate and swampy scenery fostered enormous dinosaurs, tiny mammals, crocodiles, crustaceans and fish, along with insects, flying reptiles and an abundance of plants. Now fast forward to the early decades of the 1800s. Ten miles north of Oxford, the village of Stonesfield has a network of thriving limestone mines. The layered rock is formed of minuscule fragments of the life that once flourished here – and within it, near-complete fossilised specimens are preserved.
Observe and illustrate
From sketches, paintings and casts, to modern photographs and scans, good palaeontologists always keep plenty of visual records. When 19th-century scientific illustrators made skilful drawings of dig sites and specimens, it was the only way to preserve and share new discoveries. Scientists now use an array of imaging techniques for this vital process.
Using a microscope, William Buckland, 1839, drew these microfossils (foraminifera and diatoms): tiny marine organisms, still found in the sea today
Using a microscope, William Buckland, 1839, drew these microfossils (foraminifera and diatoms): tiny marine organisms, still found in the sea today
Mary Buckland painted this view of Axmouth lanslip in 1839.
Mary Buckland painted this view of Axmouth lanslip in 1839.
This reproduction of Teeth and bones from Kent’s Hole in Devon by Mary Morland, 1825, on lithographic stone was made by Valerie Syposz and Catriona Brodribb in 2024. The preparation of this special lithographic stone for the exhibition involved many stages. It can now be used to make a series of prints like the original lithographic stone. On loan from the Oxford Printmakers.
This reproduction of Teeth and bones from Kent’s Hole in Devon by Mary Morland, 1825, on lithographic stone was made by Valerie Syposz and Catriona Brodribb in 2024. The preparation of this special lithographic stone for the exhibition involved many stages. It can now be used to make a series of prints like the original lithographic stone. On loan from the Oxford Printmakers.
Plate 1 depicting the geological strata from the Bridgewater Treatise VI: Geology and mineralogy considered with reference to natural theology
Plate 1 depicting the geological strata from the Bridgewater Treatise VI: Geology and mineralogy considered with reference to natural theology
Seeing is believing
Before colour photography, illustration was key to recording the location and proportions of fossil finds, their texture and tone, and surrounding environmental features like rock strata and vegetation. William Buckland sometimes made his own field drawings. On other occasions he asked Mary or another scientific illustrator to help record the finds on site. Back at base, artists including Mary, or the Bucklands’ colleague George Scharf, would turn the sketches made into detailed drawings using specialist art materials, magnifying lenses and microscopes.
Mary Morland, artist
Mary Morland’s gift for scientific illustration gained her recognition in her youth. In 1821, Mary’s fossil drawings were selected for publication by Georges Cuvier, director of the Natural History Museum in Paris. William Buckland also commissioned her to illustrate key journal papers, including the announcement of Megalosaurus in 1824. After marrying William in 1825, and changing her surname to Buckland, Mary rarely signed her work. However, her unmistakeable skills with pencil, ink and paint saw her images immortalised in academic and teaching publications, providing records that survive to this day.
The proof in the print
To give the full picture of a scientific discovery, a publication needs accurate imagery. 19th-century artists, authors, and printers explored a host of innovative techniques aimed at producing pictures detailed enough for researchers to compare and identify fossil specimens. Prints made with carved wooden blocks, engraved metal plates, or lithographic stones, each had benefits and drawbacks. The choice of one process over another might depend on the level of detail required, the number of copies to be made, and the cost involved. But the revolution in high-quality printed illustrations drove new scientific advances.
The Bridgewater Treatise
Astronomy, biology, geology and physics seemed to some to challenge widely-held Christian beliefs during the 1830s. The Royal Society in London used a bequest made by the 8th Earl of Bridgewater to pay eight leading authors to produce volumes that demonstrated how scientific thought and faith could co-exist. The sixth book, on Geology and Mineralogy, was written by William Buckland. Closer inspection would suggest that the credit was shared with Mary. William dictated text to her but she contributed her own ideas and edited parts of the manuscript.
Analyse the specimens
How can fossilised bones, shells and teeth reveal what an extinct animal ate, how it moved, and what its relatives were? When studying a new fossil plant or animal, early palaeontologists used detailed comparisons with similar species of modern and extinct groups, to fill gaps and draw conclusions. Scientists do the same today, aided by powerful statistical and computational techniques.
Enormous fossil animal
Clues to the existence of dinosaurs lay hidden underground for 166 million years before William Buckland published the first description, in 1824. He worked with French naturalist Georges Cuvier, and scientific illustrator Mary Morland, to examine and depict a series of intriguing fossils, many found in Oxfordshire. The findings were evidence of an ‘enormous fossil animal’, resembling modern lizards but much, much bigger. Physician James Parkinson called it Megalosaurus. It would become the first named animal to be subsequently recognised as a dinosaur.
Imagine trying to assemble a jigsaw with half the pieces missing and no image to guide you. William Buckland compared the few Megalosaurus bones that had been found to modern lizards and noted similarities such as the shape of teeth, vertebrae and limb bones. As a result, he named the animal Megalosaurus meaning ‘great lizard’.
To scientifically describe and name a new plant or animal, it requires a physical specimen, called a ‘type specimen’, that has a unique group of recognisable features. These specimens are the Megalosaurus types. As the first dinosaur ever named, these Oxfordshire fossils therefore represent the start of global dinosaur research.
Fossils on the page
Scientific information about Megalosaurus spread via a detailed description published with illustrations of the Oxfordshire specimens, drawn by Mary Morland. She showed incredible skill and precision in portraying the fossils, including this dentary (lower jaw) and sacrum (lower back bones). Her skill and attention to detail allowed others to study many physical characteristics of the fossils without having to travel to see the original specimens.
Defining dinosaurs
Megalosaurus was named before the word ‘dinosaur’ existed. In the years following its announcement, specimens of two additional huge reptiles were discovered and named – Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus. Both were described by geologist Gideon Mantell, in 1825 and 1833 respectively. Based on physical features shared by Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus, anatomist Richard Owen defined the group ‘Dinosauria’. Published in 1842, it means ‘terrible lizard’, referring to the colossal size and seemingly lizard-like features of the three earth-shaking new discoveries.
Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Stoked by fossil discoveries, ‘dino-mania’ took hold in Victorian England. Charles Dickens even mused about Megalosaurus roaming London’s foggy streets in his novel Bleak House. The famous trio, Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus, were immortalised in the world’s first life-sized sculptures of dinosaurs. Unveiled in 1854, in Crystal Palace Park, London, these important statues represent the most up-to-date scientific understanding of the time.
Megalosaurus today
No complete skeleton of Megalosaurus has ever been found, and yet palaeontologists know a lot more about the species now than they did in 1824. During the 200 years since Megalosaurus was named, scientists have gathered clues from more complete remains of similar dinosaurs, such as Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, as well as trace fossils like the animal’s tracks. From this evidence, scientists studying Megalosaurus have been able to determine that this agile predator walked upright on two legs and grew up to nine metres in length.
The dinosaur-bird link
A huge clue connecting dinosaurs and birds came in 1863 when a near-complete specimen of Archaeopteryx was described by Richard Owen. Archaeopteryx exhibits physical features uniting it with both ‘non-bird dinosaurs’ (sharp teeth and a long bony tail) and modern birds (feathers, plus an ability to perch). However, birds weren’t widely accepted as dinosaurs until an incredible array of feathered dinosaur fossils was discovered in China, from the 1990s onwards.
The jaw fossil of Megalosaurus
The jaw fossil of Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus sacrum
Megalosaurus sacrum
Mary Morland's illustration of the Megalosaurus jaw fossil
Mary Morland's illustration of the Megalosaurus jaw fossil
Cast of the thumb spike of an Iguanodon. Early Iguanodon reconstructions show the thumb spike on the nose, resembling some modern iguana species. Once more complete skeletons were found the spikes were moved to their rightful place on the thumbs.
Cast of the thumb spike of an Iguanodon. Early Iguanodon reconstructions show the thumb spike on the nose, resembling some modern iguana species. Once more complete skeletons were found the spikes were moved to their rightful place on the thumbs.
William Buckland's drawing from 1852 which was used to design the life-size dinosaur sculptures at Crystal Palace Park, London, which opened in 1854.
William Buckland's drawing from 1852 which was used to design the life-size dinosaur sculptures at Crystal Palace Park, London, which opened in 1854.
A contemporary reconstruction of Megalosaurus bucklandii in a coastal lagoon setting. Digital image created by Julius Csotonyi in 2018.
A contemporary reconstruction of Megalosaurus bucklandii in a coastal lagoon setting. Digital image created by Julius Csotonyi in 2018.
A cast of the fossil of Archaeopteryx lithographica, an extinct feathered dinosaur, from the Upper Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone (152–146 million years old).
A cast of the fossil of Archaeopteryx lithographica, an extinct feathered dinosaur, from the Upper Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone (152–146 million years old).
Analyse the context
When did these species live? And what kind of world did they inhabit? Palaeontologists piece together a picture by reading the rocks. Researchers in 19th-century Britain gradually realised that the geological timeline did not support a literal interpretation of the Bible. Their evidence-based approach yielded an understanding of past ecosystems and climates that still underpins science today.
The upper jaw of a Cave Hyena found in Kirkdale Cave
The upper jaw of a Cave Hyena found in Kirkdale Cave
This cartoon was drawn by William Conybeare in 1821 to celebrate Buckland’s groundbreaking analysis of the fossils found in Kirkdale Cave.
This cartoon was drawn by William Conybeare in 1821 to celebrate Buckland’s groundbreaking analysis of the fossils found in Kirkdale Cave.
Fossil and modern ox tibia gnawed by a hyaena.
Fossil and modern ox tibia gnawed by a hyaena.
The Kirkdale Cave mystery
In the summer of 1821, workers in a Yorkshire limestone quarry made a strange discovery. A narrow opening led to a cave filled with huge bones, which they thought might belong to modern cows. When some of the bones reached William Buckland in Oxford, however, he recognised them as fossil specimens – and immediately travelled north to investigate. The long cave contained an abundance of fossilised bones, buried under a layer of silt. Buckland soon identified elephant, bison, deer, hippo, rhino, hyaena, plus small mammals and birds.
Age-old evidence
At the time, Bible scholars believed Earth was 6,000 years old. William Buckland therefore first assumed the exotic animals in Kirkdale Cave had washed in from afar during Noah’s flood. However, he noticed the cave’s entrance was too small to fit a sizeable animal – and that the silt must have arrived after the bones, subsequently burying them. He realised the layered remains suggested it was the den and eating place of generations of hyaenas that once roamed northern England. Modern radiometric dating has shown the Kirkdale fossils are 121,000 years old.
Clues from the zoo
While William Buckland was working to interpret the Kirkdale Cave fossils, he heard that Wombwell’s Travelling Menagerie was visiting Oxford and seized the opportunity to conduct an experiment. He arranged to give ox bones to a living hyaena and the gnaw marks it made were identical to those on the fossil bones in the cave. He also compared the hyaena’s droppings with fossilised versions, called coprolites, from the cave. Again, there was a match. Evidence was growing to support the hyaena den theory.
Build a theory
A scientific theory is the simplest proposal that explains the evidence. It is a crystallisation of deep thought, and a distillation of plentiful data. But will the theory stand the test of time? As palaeontologists have found from the beginning, it depends on the reliability of the observations, the quality of the analysis, and the evidence that is available.
Ideas and ideologies
How old is the Earth? Did a great flood shape its geography? Has the planet always had the life we see today? European scientists of the 1800s tackled fundamental questions about the world within the context of prevailing Christian thought. William Buckland was a scientist, and also a Church of England minister. He interpreted the Biblical account of creation loosely, and comfortably accepted a geological timeline. He did believe there was scientific evidence for a flood, however. Over time, through his studies and collaborations, he altered his perspective and ideas.
Strange scratches and irregular pockets of sediment cover the geological bedrock of Scotland, northern England and North Wales. William Buckland at first thought this was explained by the Biblical account of a devastating worldwide flood. However, over time he found the evidence didn’t fit. It was more in keeping with an emerging theory that ice had once covered the surface of a much colder Earth. As the ice retreated to the poles, it shaped and marked the landscape. This is glaciation theory, which, although fully accepted today, was then controversial.
Progress and prejudice
Swiss-born American naturalist Louis Agassiz was a champion of glaciation theory. William and Mary Buckland spent time with Agassiz in 1838 and found his unconventional views compelling. In 1840, the Bucklands toured Scotland looking for evidence that ice had once covered the planet. But while Agassiz was scientifically progressive, he still exhibited startling cultural prejudices, like many Europeans of his time. He believed that different races of people came from different species. He saw other races as inferior to white people, and his writings and teachings on this subject were used by white supremacists to justify slavery in the US.
This cartoon by Thomas Sopwith around 1839 depicts William Buckland in his heavy outdoor clothing, and pokes fun at Louis Agassiz for misidentifying a cartwheel-scratched specimen shown to
This cartoon by Thomas Sopwith around 1839 depicts William Buckland in his heavy outdoor clothing, and pokes fun at Louis Agassiz for misidentifying a cartwheel-scratched specimen shown to
A boulder scratched by a glacier collected by William Buckland, probably in Scotland.
A boulder scratched by a glacier collected by William Buckland, probably in Scotland.
In a letter to William Buckland in 1840 Agassiz confirms that glaciers once covered Ireland. He also suggests to Buckland to combine observations to have a stronger case on glaciation in Britain at the next Geological Society meeting.
In a letter to William Buckland in 1840 Agassiz confirms that glaciers once covered Ireland. He also suggests to Buckland to combine observations to have a stronger case on glaciation in Britain at the next Geological Society meeting.
Testing the Hypothesis
What’s the best-kept secret in science? Researchers love disproving one another’s theories. In fact, testing ideas to destruction is how they are adapted and improved. 19th-century palaeontologists tested the radical new concepts emerging from their field in ways that were incredibly creative, and often very collaborative. The stakes are just as high today.
On the right track
Trace fossils include the preserved remains of anything an animal leaves behind – its footprints or tracks, its burrow or nest, or even its droppings. From clues like these, scientists can piece together the biological activity of an animal, and build theories about its behaviour. William and Mary Buckland collected trace fossils wherever they could, in the form of physical specimens, sketches, casts and rubbings. Often there is no direct evidence of what created a trace fossil and so it requires meticulous scientific analysis to work it out.
Dung stones
Beachcombers in Dorset often spot curiously shaped pebbles studded with fish scales and bones. In 1829, William Buckland named these objects ‘coprolites’, meaning ‘dung stones’. Mary Anning had recognised these trace fossils as early as 1824 among ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletal remains.
With Anning, Buckland now realised that the stones were fossilised droppings of marine reptiles and spiral shaped ones were potentially produced by sharks. To test the idea, Buckland made plaster casts of the intestines of modern sharks and rays. And indeed, comparable twisted poo shapes resulted, when he passed cement through the models.
Walk this way
Illustrators like Mary Buckland often sketched the footprints and tracks of prehistoric creatures while working on palaeontological digs. Such trace fossils were a priceless record of ancient life, recorded in muddy sediments. But how could anyone know which animal had made them?
Late one night, William Buckland realised a set of fossil footprints might bear a similarity to those of a modern tortoise. Soon after, the Bucklands’ kitchen witnessed a tortoise marching over a table covered in paste. The test revealed a convincing match with the prehistoric tracks.
Polished coprolites from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old), Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. These coprolites have been cut in half and polished to show the internal structure. Layers and fish scales and bones can be seen in them.
Polished coprolites from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old), Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. These coprolites have been cut in half and polished to show the internal structure. Layers and fish scales and bones can be seen in them.
Coprolite fossil filled with crinoids from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old), Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.
Coprolite fossil filled with crinoids from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Lias (200–198 million years old), Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.
Examples of artificial coprolites made by injecting cement into skate and dog-fish intestines
Examples of artificial coprolites made by injecting cement into skate and dog-fish intestines
Tortoise trackways painted by Mary Morland c.1836 with Greek Tortoise.
Tortoise trackways painted by Mary Morland c.1836 with Greek Tortoise.
Share your ideas
Ideas can change the world. By communicating and teaching new theories, researchers allow other scientists to scrutinise and develop them. The expert review processes in modern scientific publishing enable palaeontology to progress. These systems owe much to the collaborative work of historical geological collectors, teachers and illustrators – although only male scientists could participate fully in scientific societies at first.
The web of knowledge
Buckland’s success as a scientist owed a lot to his communication with his vast network. Scientific ideas circulated mainly around European and North American academics and wealthy collectors. Their intellectual progress was fuelled by a flow of specimens from countries under British Empire rule via military officials or employees of the East India Company. Despite evidence of collaborators deemed to be of lower status, their contributions were often forgotten through history: this included most women and anyone from outside favoured organisations or powerful nations, regardless of class or brilliance.
Letters, like this one from George Griffin, stonesfield quarrier, in 1814 allow us to acknowledge the contributions to the study of palaeontology by people not normally recognised, such as quarriers.
Gideon Mantell (1790–1852) exchanged specimens and ideas with Buckland, like this theropod claw cast. Mantell, a doctor and palaeontologist, is most famous for describing Iguanodon, with his ex-wife Mary Ann who was known for finding the first specimen. However, later in life, Mantell claimed he was the sole finder. Rumours also circulated that the specimen was in fact bought from local quarriers. We may never know the whole truth, but it shows how easily contributions of those of lower status can be revised or erased from history.
British naturalists, like Buckland, were more likely to be in contact with military officers like Colonel William Henry Sykes (1790–1872), rather than the indigenous people. Colonel Sykes was a naturalist who served with the British military in India and later became director of the East India Company. His discoveries included 56 birds new to science, including the Indian Pond Heron, yet less is known about contributions by local indigenous people to these discoveries and acquisitions. He would have sent this Striped Hyena jaw to Buckland.
Charlotte Murchison (1788–1869) and Roderick Murchison (1792–1871) were geologists and palaeontologists. Charlotte cultivated her husband’s interest in science and natural history and campaigned for women to attend scientific lectures and meetings only open to men. This letter shows the close relationship between the Bucklands and the Murchisons.
Mary (1777–1838), Elizabeth (1780–1857) and Margaret (1786–1845) Philpot were well known for their extensive fossil collection, which would have included this palate of an extinct shark, from Lyme Regis and were good friends with Mary Anning and William Buckland. It was Elizabeth Philpot who, together with Buckland, realised that the ink from fossil belemnites could be rehydrated to use in drawings.
Duria Antiquior, the first well-known image of deep time, was created by Henry De la Beche (1796–1855) in collaboration with Buckland to showcase Mary Anning’s key fossil finds. De la Beche was a geologist, palaeontologist and illustrator who funded his geological interests with profits from the slave plantation he owned in Jamaica. This highlights the hidden financial ties between slavery and the study of palaeontology.
Mary Anning and Buckland were close collaborators. Plesiosaurus were large marine reptiles. This paddle was one of four used in swimming. Anning reconstructed this paddle before a complete plesiosaur had been found.
Another collaborator of Buckland, Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), a naturalist and zoologist, was known as the “founding father of palaeontology”. Like others at this time, Cuvier was interested in classification, and his views on race influenced the development of scientific racism. Cuvier participated in the inhumane and racist treatment of Saartjie Baartmen, an indigenous South African woman, who was exhibited as the freak show attraction, the “Hottentot of Venus”. When she died, her remains were left on display until the 1960s and were finally returned to South Africa in 2002.
Thomas Sopwith (1803–1879), initially a builder and cabinet-maker apprentice, soon turned to surveying and became interested in geology and mineral collecting. He accompanied Buckland on his northern England tour in 1840 looking for examples of glaciation. He developed these geological models which Buckland used for teaching.
Anna Gurney (1795–1857) was a scholar, philanthropist and geologist. She was an avid specimen collector with a focus on the local geology of east Norfolk. Gurney for most of her life used a wheelchair due to a polio infection at 10 months old. Gurney worked with many scientists, including William Buckland. This letter speaks to how she obtained specimens with the aid of ‘one old woman in my employ who goes fossil gathering on the shore, in spectacles’.
George Johann Scharf (1788–1860), originally from Bavaria, Germany, was a painter and lithographer. He made a living through his lithographic prints, particularly on scientific subjects including numerous lithographs for William Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise, and most famously, Henry De La Beche’s Duria Antiquior – with sales providing financial support for Mary Anning.
Maria Graham, "An account of some effects of the late earthquakes in Chili", Transactions of the Geological Society (1824). Paper taken from the Biodiversity heritage library.
Maria Graham, "An account of some effects of the late earthquakes in Chili", Transactions of the Geological Society (1824). Paper taken from the Biodiversity heritage library.
A watercolour of the Megatherium skull by Joseph Fisher or George Scharf in 1832.
A watercolour of the Megatherium skull by Joseph Fisher or George Scharf in 1832.
A lithograph by Nathaniel Whittock in 1823 of William Buckland teaching to senior members of the University of Oxford in a lecture room at the old Ashmolean Museum. This print was commissioned by Buckland to celebrate the installation of his new dedicated teaching space for geology in the Ashmolean.
A lithograph by Nathaniel Whittock in 1823 of William Buckland teaching to senior members of the University of Oxford in a lecture room at the old Ashmolean Museum. This print was commissioned by Buckland to celebrate the installation of his new dedicated teaching space for geology in the Ashmolean.
A seat at the table
Scientific societies were where palaeontology progressed in the 19th century. New findings could be shared, scrutinised, and published in official journals. Membership wasn’t open to women, however, and many – William and Mary Buckland included – didn’t believe women belonged in academic circles. But some challenged the status quo. In 1824, writer Maria Graham successfully submitted a paper to the Geological Society about the effect of earthquakes she had observed in Chile. Outside the societies, women occasionally self-published a book – for example, Etheldred Bennet’s 1831 volume on the fossils of Wiltshire.
Blotted from history
Who discovered Megatherium americanum?
This extinct species of giant ground sloth was the focus of a lecture given in 1832 by William Buckland, in which he showed how perfectly adapted it would have been to its environment.
Records showed the remains had originally been discovered in Argentina by a friar called Manuel de Torres. But reports on Buckland’s lecture stated that the find had been the work of ‘a peasant’. The omission of the collector was repeated in Buckland’s volume of the Bridgewater Treatise, one of the many examples of a name being lost to science.
William Buckland: teacher
Imagine having William Buckland as your geology lecturer. He used the best visual aids, including real fossil specimens, and material from present day species for comparison. His showman-like style entertained his classes in Oxford and his audiences at other institutions. Many of his students became notable scientists and collectors. But very few paid jobs existed in the new field of palaeontology – William Buckland was the first-ever Reader of Geology at the University of Oxford. Scientific contributors were often wealthy amateurs with the time and resources to devote to their hobby.
Lost voices
Imagine working all your life gathering ground breaking evidence or developing revolutionary theories, but then vanishing with no lasting legacy. This has historically been the experience of many in science, even among relatively privileged people such as Mary Buckland. To acknowledge your sources is built into the scientific publishing process today but voices still go unheard.
The disappearance of Mary Buckland
As a young woman, Mary Morland was a successful scientific illustrator, working with the key geologists of her day. After her marriage to William Buckland she acted as his assistant while he rose to fame as a professional palaeontologist. Her name rarely appeared again to acknowledge her labour as an artist, curator, or natural historian. Mary did not expect credit for her contributions. But the pressure on a 19th-century married woman to care for home, husband, and children was inescapable. Her intellectual and creative life left few public traces.
Family friendly science
Life with the Bucklands was a whirlwind adventure. Their children’s own accounts of their childhood talk of William and Mary Buckland nurturing an intellectual curiosity about the natural world. Living amongst an assortment of creatures, participating in field trips, meeting the “local celebrity” Mary Anning, cataloguing collections, and partaking in the outrageous dinner parties where every animal was on the menu – science really was a family affair.
Levelling the field
Geology has changed since the Bucklands’ day. Women now make up over half of UK geology students, and almost half of people going into palaeontology are the first in their family to attend university. However, geology is one of the physical science subjects with the lowest take-up among Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority students. Records show that traditionally marginalised groups including women and people with disabilities are still under-represented in the academic hierarchy. Initiatives to widen participation and provide mentorship aim to make geology increasingly accessible, and inclusive for all.
An unfinished sketch by Mary Buckland, dated 1845, of two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth “Bessie” Buckland.
An unfinished sketch by Mary Buckland, dated 1845, of two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth “Bessie” Buckland.
A drawing by Phillip Bury Duncan in 1829 of Frank with a crocodile. Frank recalls his father, William Buckland, being given a ‘semi-dead’ crocodile, which William attempted to revive by putting it in the pond at Christ Church College. Although William failed to revive the crocodile, Frank still played with it.
A drawing by Phillip Bury Duncan in 1829 of Frank with a crocodile. Frank recalls his father, William Buckland, being given a ‘semi-dead’ crocodile, which William attempted to revive by putting it in the pond at Christ Church College. Although William failed to revive the crocodile, Frank still played with it.
Undergraduate field trip in Greece © Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Undergraduate field trip in Greece © Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Palaeontology now
William Buckland and his colleagues laid down the foundations of how we do modern palaeontology and geology. To this day there are a lot of similarities in the way we conduct our science. However, the development of new technologies and methods have led palaeontological and geological research into areas not achievable in Buckland’s time. Hear from different researchers who study palaeontology today.
Professor Emily Rayfield
Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Bristol
How do you collect and interpret fossil data?
What can fossils tell us about extinct life and how it lived?
How has palaeontology become more diverse?
How can we make palaeontology fairer for all?
Dr Andre Rowe
Research Associate, University of Bristol
How do you collect and interpret fossil data?
What can fossils tell us about extinct life and how it lived?
How can we make palaeontology fairer for all?
Dr Frankie Dunn
Research fellow, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
How do you collect and interpret fossil data?
What can fossils tell us about extinct life and how it lived?
How can we make palaeontology fairer for all?
Cameron Muskelly
In the 21st century, social media provides a new way for scientific networks to grow. It can also allow experts to build a reputation even when they don’t walk the usual academic corridors of power. Among them is Cameron Muskelly, an award-winning young palaeontology researcher and science communicator. Entirely self-taught, he uses YouTube and other platforms to share fossil finds and stories from his home state of Georgia in the southern United States. Both academic and public audiences now know him for his expertise in Appalachian geology.
Hear Cameron talk about his love for palaeontology
Ground-Breaking Fossils
Technological evolutions, global collaborations and new fossil finds have allowed scientists to uncover much more about the history of life on Earth since Buckland’s time. From tiny pollen grains to giant sauropods, new specimens and the information they contain are constantly being uncovered. Buckland’s view of the world profoundly changed through his analyses, and the same process continues 200 years later. Researchers in the Oxford Palaeobiology research group, some based here at the Museum of Natural History, have each chosen a fossil that has significantly shifted our scientific understanding.
Meganeura sp. Image reconstruction by Aldrich Hezekiah of an extinct dragonfly-like insect Upper Carboniferous to Upper Permian (323.2–251.9 million years old).
Meganeura sp. Image reconstruction by Aldrich Hezekiah of an extinct dragonfly-like insect Upper Carboniferous to Upper Permian (323.2–251.9 million years old).
Meganeuropsis permiana
Millions of years before pterosaurs, birds, or bats populated the skies, insects were the only animals with active flight. Giant dragonfly-like insects named griffinflies were the largest of them. Their discovery at the end of the 19th-century proved how insects had achieved massive sizes during the Palaeozoic. Meganeuropsis permiana was the largest known insect to have ever lived, with a 71 cm wingspan. The causes for gigantism in griffinflies are still being debated, with the high oxygen levels in the Palaeozoic atmosphere probably not fully explaining it.
Chosen by Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, Senior Researcher of Natural History
Archaeopteryx lithographica, an extinct feathered dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone (152–146 million years old), Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany.
Archaeopteryx lithographica, an extinct feathered dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone (152–146 million years old), Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany.
Archaeopteryx lithographica
Archaeopteryx lived during the Late Jurassic, ~150 million years ago in what is now Germany. Archaeopteryx is a classic example of a transitional fossil that shares traits of two different groups, in this case non-avian dinosaurs and avian dinosaurs, or birds. The type specimen of Archaeopteryx was discovered just two years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species, lending credibility to his theory of evolution by natural selection. Thus, the discovery of this fossil clearly showed that dinosaurs evolved into birds, a concept that scientists had trouble accepting for a century or more!
Chosen by Professor Erin Saupe, Professor of Palaeobiology
Proterocladus antiquus, image reconstruction by D. Yang of an extinct green algae from the Upper Proterozoic, Nanfen Formation (1 billion years old), Southern Liaoning Province, China. Image taken from Tang et al. (2020), Nat Ecol Evol, 4, 543–549
Proterocladus antiquus, image reconstruction by D. Yang of an extinct green algae from the Upper Proterozoic, Nanfen Formation (1 billion years old), Southern Liaoning Province, China. Image taken from Tang et al. (2020), Nat Ecol Evol, 4, 543–549
Proterocladus
Proterocladus altered our view of when Earth’s first complex life evolved. The fossil has many features seen in seaweeds today including a root structure, making it the oldest known green algae. Before Proterocladus, our evidence for life comes from rocks called stromatolites which were built by simple microbes. Proterocladus argues complex life evolved in the oceans versus freshwater environments like lakes and rivers, and my research has shown rocks rich in antibacterial clays were necessary to preserve its exquisite details.
Chosen by Dr Ross Anderson, Senior Researcher and Royal Society University Research Fellow
A 3D model of Treptichnus sp. a trace fossil from the Lower Cambrian, Breidvika Formation (538.8–529 million years old) Tanafjord, Finnmark, Norway
A 3D model of Treptichnus sp. a trace fossil from the Lower Cambrian, Breidvika Formation (538.8–529 million years old) Tanafjord, Finnmark, Norway
Treptichnus pedum
Treptichnus pedum, one of the oldest fossil burrows and an icon of the Cambrian Explosion, records the earliest evidence of ancient worms probing through the sediment in search of food. Prior to this, sediments were anoxic and hostile to animal life. Burrowing mixes up the sediment, allowing oxygen and other nutrients to enter from the overlying seawater, enabling life to flourish underground. By burrowing, these pioneers started to change the world irreversibly, acting as ecosystem engineers.
Chosen by Dr Luke Parry, Associate Professor of Palaeobiology and NERC Independent Research Fellow
3D model reconstruction of Auroralumina attenboroughii by Martin Lisec of an extinct jellyfish relative from the Ediacaran, Bradgate Formation (557–562 million years old) Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, England.
3D model reconstruction of Auroralumina attenboroughii by Martin Lisec of an extinct jellyfish relative from the Ediacaran, Bradgate Formation (557–562 million years old) Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, England.
Auroralumina
Auroralumina is around 560 million years old and is the oldest animal known with direct, living descendants, in this case cnidarians (jellyfish and corals). Other animals at this time looked unlike anything alive today and easily recognisable animal groups don’t otherwise appear until tens of millions of years later, during the Cambrian Explosion of animal life. Auroralumina shows at least one way of building a body is much more ancient than we thought and has remained more-or-less unchanged ever since.
Chosen by Dr Frankie Dunn, NERC Independent Research Fellow & Senior Researcher
Breaking Ground exhibition is on show at
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
18 October 2024 – 29 September 2025
Acknowledgements
Content Development, Curation and Interpretation
OUMNH Exhibition and Collections Team
Exhibition Text
Rebecca Mileham
Thanks to the researchers who supported the exhibition with their history of science research and expertise:
Grace Exley, AHRC Doctoral Researcher, University of Leeds and University of Oxford
Dr Sue Newell, Associate Researcher, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Professor Jon Topham, Professor of History of Science, University of Leeds
Thanks to the researchers who contributed to the contemporary science the exhibition:
Oxford Palaeobiology researchers at the University of Oxford
Cameron Muskelly, Freelance Palaeontologist
Professor Emily Rayfield, University of Bristol
Dr Andre Rowe, University of Bristol
A special thank you to:
Simon Armitage, Nigel Larkin, Martin Lisec, Oxford Printmaking Society, Royal College of Surgeons, Sedgewick Museum of Earth Sciences, Smith & Sons (Bletchingdon) Ltd
Oxford University Museum of Natural History acknowledges the assistance of The Curry Fund of the Geologists’ Association.
Supported using public funding from Arts Council England.
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