The platypus has no stomach, is venomous, detects electric fields, and lays eggs — and is a mammal
The platypus breaks nearly every mammal rule: it lays eggs, has no nipples (milk seeps through skin), has no stomach (food goes straight from oesophagus to intestine), detects prey via electroreception (sensing electric fields generated by muscle movement underwater), and male platypuses have venomous spurs on their hind legs capable of causing excruciating pain in humans. When the platypus was first described to European scientists in 1799, many believed the specimen was a taxidermist's hoax.
Every individual platypus fact seems implausible on its own. Together, they make the animal seem like it was assembled by combining features at random. That such a creature is real, extant, and thriving is a reminder that evolution has no aesthetic commitments.
“The platypus has no stomach, lays eggs, sweats milk, detects electric fields, and males are venomous. When Europeans first saw one, scientists thought it was a hoax. It was not. 🦆 #OddlyHuman”