From here.The discovery of the platypus by Europeans resulted in a major re-think about the classification of vertebrates and our understanding of the evolution of mammals. The story of the investigation of the platypus reveals a lot about the processes of science. Rivalries, competition and collaboration occurred between groups and across countries. Prior conceptions and understandings were challenged, and some workers were slow to accept the new contradictory evidence.
The Popperian criterion excludes from the domain of science not unfalsifiable statements but only whole theories that contain no falsifiable statements
The goal is to defend falsificationism (as formulated my Karl Popper) from this criticism:
Theories that contain existential statements, such as "some mammals lay eggs," are not falsifiable, but the one I mentioned above seems perfectly scientific. — Varun Soontornniyomkij
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