10 Ways The Platypus Is A Freak Of Nature

The more early scientists learned about the platypus, the more confused they were. The platypus is a mammal that perplexingly shares many features with reptiles and birds, which led many early scientists to believe that the animal was a hoax. We here at Cracked are not scientists, but we ARE a perpetually baffled bunch of nerds who love discussing weirdo things about animals. Like, seriously: we have distinct memories of sitting in kindergarten and learning about the taxonomy of the animal kingdom and then hearing “but here's this one little adorable guy who breaks absolutely all those rules. The world doesn't make sense, and the platypus is proof of that. Have a normal day, five-year-old!” We were confused. We were baffled. And we held onto those confused and baffled feelings long enough to grow up into a world where the internet existed and we got to 1) learn that scientists are as confused as we are and 2) make a bunch of memes about it. 

Learn some fun facts about this remarkable animal below.