The term "fossil" is typically associated with once-living things that have been turned into rock. But wood, leaves, mosses, and insects from an ancient forest in Maine were found preserved without having been mineralized. A recent study delved into the mystery of how these plant and other remains could still be so fresh.

Scripture and paleoclimatology indicate that the Middle East had more trees and grass in the past. Several theories suggest that the climate is drier today because of overgrazing, cutting of forests, or geological change.

Workers with the Canadian energy company Suncor unearthed ankylosaur remains while mining oil sands near Fort McMurray in Alberta. The carcass of the four-legged land creature was not flattened, as is the case with many fossilized vertebrates. But most strangely, it was found in an area known primarily for fossilized marine creatures.

Marine biologists made a surprising discovery in 2002 when they found a unique species of worm that devours the bones of whale carcasses on the ocean floor. Ongoing research conducted off the coast of California has uncovered much more about these sea floor worm-based ecosystems, and the discoveries have provided more insight into the fossilization of vertebrate bones.