What is the Meaning of: Oviparous | Concept and Definition of: Oviparous
The oviparous term comes from the latin ovipărus and means any animal laying eggs which segmentation has not yet begun or is not very advanced. Birds, insects and molluscs are the oviparous.
This mode of reproduction assumes the egg deposition in an external environment where development is completed prior to hatching (when the egg is broken and the small comes out of it).
Mean egg oval body produced by females and contains the embryo while protecting it. Eggs have a protective shell whose strength and flexibility may vary. So far, the ostrich is the animal which turns lay larger eggs: they can weigh up to 1.5 kg. Dinosaurs, on the other hand, were the animals that laid the biggest eggs, in their time, namely, even larger than those of the ostrich. Conversely, the bee Hummingbird is the bird that produces the smallest eggs not exceeding the half gram.
Oviparous reproduction may occur in two ways. Some animals produce dry eggs which are deposited outdoors once finished the process of internal fertilization. On the other hand, other animals deposit eggs without fertilize in the water. In this case, fertilization is external because it takes place when the male leaves his sperm between eggs while the female lays them.
An ovoviviparous animal is one that keeps the eggs inside the female until the time of the outbreak, which can occur immediately or after the ponte just before birth.