The newly discovered Caldwell echidna specimen (photo by Jacqueline Garget; all images courtesy University of Cambridge Museum of Zoology) You know the type: rule-breaker, defies categorization, total ...

An expedition through an unpredictable, perilous mountain range in Indonesia’s province of Papua led to the rediscovery of a critically endangered egg-laying mammal that hasn’t been seen for more than ...

With a beaver’s tail, webbed feet, and a duck’s bill, platypuses are one of the world’s strangest-looking creatures. They are such an unusual mammal that the first scientists to study them believed ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Echidnas may have evolved from a water-dwelling ancestor in an unusual evolutionary event, ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Australia’s ...

Some of the strangest mammals on the planet just got even stranger. It turns out that echidnas — spine-covered, egg-laying mammals with beaks that shuffle through the undergrowth of Australian forests ...