In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the science world was overwhelmed with strange new findings out of Australia. One particular species was assumed to be a hoax… and even when it was established that the platypus was, in fact, real? It didn’t make these strange creatures make more sense.
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Research by Anna Luria and Maura Currie
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One Strange Thing: True Paranormal Mysteries explores the archives of the unexplained, blending rigorous historical research with a wry, skeptical wit to investigate true supernatural stories and baffling mysteries that made headlines.
This episode was originally released as Premium Episode 54.
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Works Cited
George Shaw, “The Duck-Billed Platypus,” The Naturalist’s Miscellany, 1798.
NA, “Scientists Trying to Save…” The Washington Herald, 1928.
Abby Ohlheiser, “The platypus is so weird…” the Washington Post, 2015.
Natalie Zarrelli, “Why 19th-century naturalists…” Atlas Obscura, 2016.
Brian K. Hall, “The paradoxical platypus,” Bioscience, 1999.
Willey Ley, “Bring our private files…” Star Tribune, 1948.
James MacDonald, “The platypus is even weirder…” JSTOR Daily, 2018.
Gilad Bino et al, “The platypus: evolutionary…” Journal of Mammalogy, 2019.
Stephen C. George, “When scientists believed the adorable…” Discover Magazine, 2023.
NA, “The lying stones of…” Geological Society of London, 2017.
Jessica Leigh Hester, “The beautiful complexity of…” Atlas Obscura, 2018.
Annetta Black, “Objects of Intrigue: Fiji…” Atlas Obscura, 2013.
Douglas Main, “We knew platypuses…” National Geographic, 2020.
John Yoon, “What scientists learned from…” the New York Times, 2024.
Mindy Weisberger, “Platypuses glow an eerie…” LiveScience, 2020.
Lucie Cutting, “Woman spurred by platypus…” ABC, 2023.