Question

Give Two examples of oviparous animals.

Answer 1

Hint: In Oviparous animals, the development of their young ones occurs outside the parent body.

Complete answer:
Animals can be classified into two main types based on the factors whether they lay eggs or not. The main distinguishing point between oviparous and viviparous animals is that oviparous animals undergo embryonic development outside the mother's body in a non-protective environment whereas in viviparous animals embryonic development occurs inside the mother body. This means oviparous animals lay eggs whereas viviparous animals do not lay eggs.
Examples of oviparous animals include birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

Additional Information:
- The survival rate of viviparous animals is greater than the oviparous animals because development occurs inside the body in a protective environment.
- Mammals are viviparous animals. The majority of the animal species are oviparous. This is because viviparity is a very energy-demanding feature. The developing fetus depends on the parent body for its survival.
- The oviparous animals produce a large number of eggs to ensure that enough future generations survive. The embryonic development is outside the parent body in a nonprotective environment and hence to increase the chances of survival of species a large number of eggs are produced at a time.
- Mammals can be classified into three groups Prototheria, Metatheria, and Eutheria. Out of these three Metatheria and Eutheria consists of viviparous animals and Prototheria consists of oviparous animals.

Note: Even though mammals are viviparous, a group of mammals known as monotremes are oviparous and lay eggs. Examples are echidna and the duck-billed platypus.