School children have been told that it takes long ages for a fossil to form and that fossils have been buried under deep rock layers for millions of years. However, increasing discoveries of fossils with soft tissue show clear evidence that refutes both claims.

Paleontologists at the University of Texas at Austin and other institutions have investigated the fossil of a giant penguin found in Peru. At five feet tall, it would have dwarfed today's largest living penguins. A UT press release stated, "The fossil shows [that] the flipper and feather shapes that make penguins such powerful swimmers evolved early."¹

A "stunning" fossil was discovered by 15-year-old James Dickinson while he was fossil hunting at a beach in southern England. The area where he found it, Lyme Regis, is well known as a "treasure trove" for fossils. But the tiny lobster James discovered contained a very rare feature--parts of its original shell.

Mosasaur fossils have been recovered from Late Cretaceous rocks all over the world. Most are just a fossilized tooth or perhaps a loose rib or vertebra. Occasionally, several bones are discovered still together. Conventional wisdom holds that creatures from this period died millions of year ago. If that's true, why do some still have soft tissue?

A dazzling array of amber in a rainbow of colors has been discovered at Cape York in far north Australia. Plant and mammal parts, as well as insects and other arthropods, are trapped inside the gems, which formed from tree resin.