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Egg-laying mammals are known as monotremes, and they include the platypus and the echidna. Their characteristics are:
- unlike placental mammals and marsupials, they do not give live birth, but lay eggs in order to reproduce
- monotremes nurture their young with mothers' milk as all mammals do
- they have four limbs
- they are warm-blooded vertebrates
- they have a four-chambered heart
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoMammals which lay eggs are called monotremes. Monotremes are egg laying mammals (Prototheria) instead of mammals which give birth to live young like marsupials (Metatheria) and placental mammals (Eutheria).
Australia has two species of monotremes: the platypus and the short-beaked echidna, and each of these has its own particular features. However, the feature that distinguishes these mammals from other mammals is the fact that they have just one external opening, the cloaca, for both waste elimination and for reproduction. The cloaca leads to the urinary, faecal and reproductive tracks, all of which join internally, and it is the orifice by which the female monotreme lays her eggs.
In addition, monotremes do not have teeth. Platypuses have grinding plates with which they crush their food. Echidnas have a long, sticky tongue for catching termites and ants, and they swallow their food whole.
Both types of monotremes are effective diggers, having long, sharp claws. They both dig burrows.
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Do white rhinos lay eggs?
No. Rabbits do not lay eggs. They are placental mammals. The only mammals which lay eggs are the monotremes, which include the platypus and the echidna.
How many eggs does a jaguar lay?
Jaguars are mammals. Mammals do not lay eggs.
Do gorillas lay eggs?
No, they're mammals. Mammals don't lay eggs (except for monotremes).
Does the elephant live young or lay eggs?
Elephants are mammals Mammals don't lay eggs
Do cougars lay eggs or have birth?
Cougars are mammals. Mammals do not lay eggs. They have a live birth.
Where do elaphants lay their eggs?
Elephants are mammals, and do not lay eggs.
Where do porcupines lay eggs?
Porcupines are mammals and do not lay eggs
Do Gorilla gorilla lay eggs?
No, they're mammals. Mammals don't lay eggs (except for monotremes).
Do agouti lay eggs?
No. Agouti are small mammals, and the only mammals which lay eggs are platypuses and echidnas.
Do placental mammals lay eggs?
No. Monotremes are the only mammals which lay eggs. Placental mammals give birth to live young.
Are mammals that lay eggs called placentals?
No. Mammals which lay eggs are monotremes. Placental mammals and marsupials give live birth.
Are giraffe's eggs hard?
Giraffes are mammals. Mammals do not lay eggs.
