Old national identities and behavior patterns are proving surprisingly durable.

The rest of the creature's surprisingly durable.

Most of their ships are undergunned and slow but can prove surprisingly durable.

This surprisingly durable mold was then filled with molten lead, which, after cooling, could be removed and used as type.

What's left, then, is another crime procedural with a not-especially-fresh twist, which, admittedly, has proved a surprisingly durable skeleton over which to drape new dramas.

"Although delicate and brittle, the models are surprisingly durable," Mr. Whitehouse said.

The source material may be surprising, but the finished product - compressed paper sealed with resin - is surprisingly durable.

Despite the flux of political events some alliances of this kind proved surprisingly durable.

An analysis released over the weekend by the W.H.O. found that the SARS virus was surprisingly durable in human waste.

They are surprisingly durable if subject to normal non-abusive use.