Agnes Crane

Agnes Crane (June 1852September 1932) was an English paleontologist, who published a number of articles on fossil and recent brachiopods, described a new brachiopod species, and presented her work internationally.

Early life Agnes Crane was born in June 1852 in Thorney, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. She was the only child of Edward Crane and Jane Turnell. Crane lived in Thorney until 1866, when her father retired. They settled in Brighton in 1867, after travelling around Europe. Crane lived in Brighton for the rest of her life.

Edward Crane was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1872, and became involved with the Brighton Museum in the 1870s, first assisting with the geological gallery, and later as a member and then chair of the museum committee. In Brighton, Crane was able to work with Scottish paleontologist, and brachiopod specialist, Thomas Davidson. Davidson lived in Brighton for many years, and in the 1870s was chairman of the Brighton museum committee, a role later taken on by Crane's father. Within the collections left by Davidson, Crane came across some samples of brachiopods that had recently been dredged from shallow waters offshore from Port Stephens, New South Wales by Australian malacologist John Brazier. Davidson had labelled the samples Atretia brazeri, in honour of the collector, but had not completed any formal description of the material. Crane examined and described the samples, and published the first technical description of this new species in a paper in April 1886.

In subsequent years, Crane wrote a number of book chapters, essays and technical papers on brachiopod anatomy and evolution.

In addition to her writings on paleontology, Crane wrote more widely on topics including sea-level change and ancient Mexican heraldry; she also wrote a number of book reviews for scientific journals and contributed to discussions of papers on other topics.

Travel Crane was well travelled and, among other things, published a serialised account of a trip to the United States with her father in 1881 in The Leisure Hour, with notes on her visits to a number of museums and collections. In August 1893, Crane was one of twelve women who presented papers at the Women's Auxiliary Branch of the World's Congress in Chicago.

Crane died in September 1932, in Brighton.

Published works Paleontology and natural history Crane A. (1877) "On Certain Genera of Living Fishes and their Fossil Affinities". Geological Magazine, 4, 209–219. Crane A. (1878) "The General History of the Cephalopoda, Recent and Fossil". Geological Magazine, 5, 487–499. Crane, A. (1881) "Article on the Molluscoida (Brachiopoda and Bryozoa)". Cassell's Nat. Hist. vol. v. parts 56–57, 258–280. Crane, A. (1886) "On a Brachiopod of the genus Atretia" (A. Brazieri, Dav. MS.). Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London, p. 181. Crane, A. (1886–1888) Edition of Thomas Davidson's Posthumous Monograph of the Recent Brachiopoda. Transactions of the Linnæan Society, London, vol. iv. Zool. Three Parts. Crane A. (1893) "New Classifications of the Brachiopoda". Geological Magazine, 10, 318–323. Crane A. (1895) "The Evolution of the Brachiopoda". Geological Magazine, 2, 65–75, 103–116.

Other topics Crane, Agnes (1892) "Ancient Mexican Heraldry", Science, 20, No. 503, 174–176. Crane, Agnes (1893) "Coyote or Bear?", Science, 22, No. 552, pp. 124–125. Crane, Agnes (1895) "The Submergence of Western Europe Prior to the Neolithic Period", Science, New Series, 2, No. 27, 2–4.