Fossils—They’re Not that Old!

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Collagen is a tough protein. Now it is found in the bones and skin of humans and many animals.

But, oxygen and chemicals destroy collagen over time. So scientists wanted to know how long it could last, so they conducted an experiment to determine the decay rate. They found that collagen can’t last longer than about 900,000 years even under ideal burial conditions

Now, here is what is exciting. Collagen, still intact, has been found in fossils including a T. rex thought to be millions of years old. But they still have collagen in them. These dinosaurs weren’t older than one million years!

They are young, as we would expect from the Bible.

Dig Deeper

• Preservation of Cellular Proteins in Dinosaur Fossils
• Solid Answers on Soft Tissue