# Paleontologists discover “one-in-a-million” fossil with 450-million-year-old soft tissue

Source: [Plants & Animals News -- ScienceDaily](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/11/261105085201.htm) · 2026-11-10 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/paleontologists-discover-one-in-a-million-fossil-with-450-million-year-old-soft-29974185b4d6d299
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- A 450-million-year-old fossil of an ancient starfish relative preserves soft tissue.
- The specimen was found in a museum collection, according to the ScienceDaily report.
- The fossil reveals details about marine life more than 200 million years before dinosaurs existed.

## Why it matters

Soft-tissue preservation in fossils this old is rare, so the specimen can add direct anatomical evidence about early echinoderm relatives that is usually lost to decay.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-05: Study on the fossil reported (ScienceDaily release dated 2026/11/05 per URL)

## Coverage

- [Paleontologists discover “one-in-a-million” fossil with 450-million-year-old soft tissue](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/11/261105085201.htm) — Plants & Animals News -- ScienceDaily, 2026-11-10

Tags: paleontology, fossils, echinoderms, soft tissue preservation, early marine life

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science