Oviparous

Oviparous refers to animals that lay eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, reptiles, all birds, the monotremes, and most insects, molluscs, and arachnids.

Characteristics

Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, reptiles, all birds, the monotremes, and most insects, molluscs, and arachnids.

Types of Oviparity

There are two types of oviparity:

1. Platypuses and two genera of echidna, lay eggs which are leathery and are incubated outside the body.
2. Reptiles and many insects lay eggs which are surrounded by a hard shell which is often calcium-based.

Comparison with other reproductive methods

Oviparity is contrasted with viviparity, or bearing live young, which are derived from the embryo, such as in mammals, and with ovoviviparity, or retaining the fertilized egg within the mother's body until it is ready to hatch.

See also

• Ovoviviparity
• Viviparity
• Reproduction
• Egg (biology)

Oviparous Resources
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