Born in Carmarthen, Wales, in 1878, Bate developed a fascination with the natural world from an early age.
In 1900 she travelled to the Natural History Museum in London and asked for work behind the scenes despite having little formal education.
Her determination earned her a position as an assistant, beginning an association with the institution that lasted more than 50 years.
Karolyn Schindler, Bate’s biographer and a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum, said: “From 1901, when she was just 22, to 1911, Bates explored the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Crete and the Balearics.
“In remote mountain caves and sea-battered cliffs, she discovered, against enormous odds, the fossilised remains of tiny hippos, elephants, the smallest mammoth ever discovered, and a curious little goat-like antelope unique to the Balearics.”