 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bears The Young Alive: They can breathe through gills in water or through rudimentary lungs in air. But the weirdest feature of the Proteus is its manner of reproduction. The water in which it moves about occasionally varies in temperature and if it is above 59 degrees the creature lays eggs like a fish. If it is under 59 it bears the young alive! What is this incredible creature?
Scientists as well as laymen have difficulty distinguishing between the sexes in lizards. There are too many small structural differences which vary with the species but are not obvious. However, in those species which possess gular sacs or throat fans as does the anole, the difference is obvious, as only the male possesses this structure.
Lizards may be oviparous, that is, egg-laying; viviparous, that is, bearing the young alive; or ovoviviparous, that is, hatching the eggs within the body so that the young emerge alive.
Ovoviviparous snakes produce the young fully formed but tightly coiled in a thin, transparent membrane. Sometimes this membrane bursts during the process of birth and the young appear to crawl from the mother's body. Usually the membrane is broken by the use of the temporary egg tooth when the young snake struggles to straighten out.
When the young are born alive, the snake is said to be viviparous.
|
|
|
|
