egg laying
Producing shelled offspring
Egg laying describes the reproductive method of animals that produce eggs which develop and hatch outside the mother's body.
Birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and some mammals like the platypus are egg-laying creatures.
As a compound modifier before a noun, it takes a hyphen: egg-laying hens, egg-laying species.
The term distinguishes these animals from those that give live birth or retain eggs internally until hatching.
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- albumenClear protein in eggs
- ovipositionDepositing eggs externally
- monotremesEgg-producing mammal order
- nestingMaking a dwelling
poultry farming · battery cage · free range · hatching · fertilization · shell · turtles · sea turtle · birds · duck eggs · snakes · clutch · parental care · yolk · arachnids · crocodiles · brooding · reptiles
- animal behaviorsswimming, running, walking, jumping, flying
- reptile traitsscaly, cold-blooded, slithering, forked tongue, shedding skin
- bird ecologybird habitats, bird migration, nesting, breeding, bird conservation
- brood carenest building, incubation, brooding, parental care, maternal care
- matingmating, breeding, courtship display, mating display, mating dance
- poultry traitsfeather color, broodiness, temperament, plumage, docile