Final answer:
The true statement about Mary Anning is that she discovered fossils supporting the idea of extinction.option 2 is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mary Anning is renowned for her contributions to paleontology and geology, particularly in the discovery of fossils. In answering the question, among the statements provided, the true one regarding Mary Anning is that she discovered fossils supporting the idea of extinction. Born in 1799, Anning was not recognized as the first female biologist, nor did she develop theories of plate tectonics, which were later formulated in the 20th century.
Furthermore, it was not Anning who developed a now incorrect theory for change over time; this was the work of Jean Baptiste Lamarck, whose theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics is now discredited.
Historical evidence shows that by the early nineteenth century, scientists already speculated about the age of Earth and the process of stratification of rocks, suggesting a much longer history of Earth than previously thought. These ideas were further developed by scientists such as James Hutton and Charles Lyell, who were instrumental in establishing that Earth's features and life forms have evolved over millions of years. Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, drawing on the work of these earlier scientists, developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, marking a significant advancement in the field of biology.