Male platypuses carry venom-loaded spurs on their hind legs. The sting is intensely painful to humans and rare among mammals, which almost never produce true venom.
Venom likely serves mating-season rivalry more than everyday hunting. Females and juveniles lack the same weaponized spur delivery.
The platypus already looks like a biology mash-up; venom seals the outlier status. Egg-laying, electroreception, and a toxic kick share one riverbank body.
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