“The platypus is so weird that scientists thought the first specimen was a hoax.”

It seems obvious to me that an open mind, a willingness to reconsider past beliefs, and a readiness to be surprised are essential qualities for good science and good scholarship.  Dogmatism is a significant liability.

This story offers an illustration of that, in which the evidence persuaded scientists to accept as real something very, very strange:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/the-platypus-is-so-weird-that-scientists-thought-the-first-specimen-was-a-hoax/