At first, scientists thought platypuses were fake
As children, we first learned what platypuses looked like. And pretty much everyone thinks they’re one of the weirdest creatures on Earth. They have a tail resembling a beaver’s, they lay eggs like most reptiles, they have a bill that looks like a duck’s, and they swim, thanks to their otter-like feet.
In fact, platypuses are so strange that not even scientists thought they were real. The first time they saw the animal, they thought it was a hoax. Some scientists even went as far as saying the species was created by artificial means.