Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Producing eggs that hatch outside the body.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Laying eggs to be hatched, or producing ova to be matured, outside the body of the parent; pertaining to the Ovipara: distinguished from
ovoviviparous and fromviviparous .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Physiol.) Producing young from eggs; ; -- opposed to
viviparous .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Egg -laying; depositing eggs that develop and hatch outside the body as a reproductive strategy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective egg-laying
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The first platypus specimen, only a skin, reached England in 1799 and it wasn’t until 1884 when it was definitely established that platypuses were oviparous, that is, they laid eggs like reptiles and birds, but unlike the majority of mammals.
Archive 2006-06-01 AYDIN 2006
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But a creature that is not oviparous is not, by definition, a bird, even if one were found that had feathers, had toothless beaks, and flew.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Sex Education, Dirty Words, and the Due Process Clause 2010
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No, I'd say they'd have to be oviparous, and then the eggs would hatch fledglings, unable to fly for quite some time.
Cattle Town 2010
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"They'd be oviparous, wouldn't they?" asked Bonnard.
Cattle Town 2010
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But a creature that is not oviparous is not, by definition, a bird, even if one were found that had feathers, had toothless beaks, and flew.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Sex Education, Dirty Words, and the Due Process Clause 2010
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Was very quick (took literally half an hour for 700 words) even though I had to re-write a few bits that were simply wrong (saying, for instance, that a "seagull gave birth and knowing it was going to die etc." when sea gulls are most definitely oviparous and not viviparous).
Breakfast in Bed desayunoencama 2006
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The beginnings of a transition from oviparous to viviparous reproduction.
The platypus genome 2008
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Several other features indicate that laticaudids are ‘primitive’ compared to the hydrophiids: they are generally better able to move on land, and they are mostly (but not entirely) oviparous (whereas hydrophiids are all viviparous).
Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006
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This group also have oviparous and viviparous forms.
Reptile families 2008
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The beginnings of a transition from oviparous to viviparous reproduction.
Archive 2008-05-01 2008
chained_bear commented on the word oviparous
"Reflections upon insular tortoises, their origin—tortoises in general, whether deaf—their voices rarely heard—capable of a harsh cry however as well as the more usual hiss—all oviparous, careless of their young—crocodiles more diligent as parents..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 272
February 23, 2008