To facilitate reproduction, birds, fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and even some mammals lay eggs. They then hatch into younglings that help continue the lineage. This article highlights some of the most popular animals that lay eggs.
A List of Animals That Lay Eggs
All members of the avian species are oviparous. Regardless of whether they fly or not, they all lay eggs. Below is a list of some of the animals that lay eggs.
Chickens
Chickens are the most common of all egg layers. They lay oval-shaped, shelled eggs, with only the fertilized ones developing into chicks.
Ostrich
Ostriches lay the largest eggs of the animals that lay eggs. Weighing about three pounds, an ostrich’s egg is about 20 times the size of a chicken’s egg. It also takes double the days a chicken egg takes to hatch.
Emu
The Australian emu is a close runner-up to the ostrich, laying the second-largest eggs among all other land animals. Their eggs are dark green in color and weigh about one pound each. One notable thing about emus is that the male takes care of the incubation and raises the young one.
Kiwi
Despite the kiwi’s small size, it lays quite a large egg (about 20 percent of her body weight). Native to New Zealand, Kiwi’s eggs take about 80 days to hatch.
Penguins
Penguins are flightless birds known for their distinct waddle. Native to Antarctica, the birds’ Eggs are incubated in their feet under a skin fold for about eight weeks. This mostly happens when the weather is extreme.
Eagle
Eagles are powerful birds known to have a keen sense of eyesight and strong talons. They lay white eggs that are a little more rounded, with some speckles. They incubate them in their nests for about 35 days to hatch.
Robins
Most people consider robins’ eggs the most beautiful. This is so much so that the “robin eggs blue” color is a thing. The female robin lays eggs in a clutch of about 3 to 5 eggs and incubates them for about two weeks.
Duck-billed Platypus
The duck-billed platypus is one of the few egg-laying mammals. The female lays two small, leathery eggs simultaneously and incubates them in a burrow.
Echidnas
Echidnas, or spiny anteaters, are monotremes, another name for egg-laying mammals. They lay a single egg with a soft shell and a leathery feel and deposit it into their pouch. Hatching occurs about ten days after gestation. The young one then stays in the pouch for another 50 days.
Sharks
While most sharks give birth to their young ones, others lay eggs. Their eggs are the largest in the aquatic ecosystem.
Snakes
About 30 percent of snakes in the world give birth rather than laying eggs because they would not survive in their tundra if they did. The other 70 percent of snakes lay oblong or elliptical eggs that take between 45 and 70 days to hatch.
Turtles
Turtles are found in both marine and land ecosystems. They lay leathery eggs in the nests in the sand in a batch of about hundreds, then leave them by themselves to hatch. When they hatch, the baby turtles return to the ocean.
Lizards
While lizards that give birth exist, most are oviparous. Their eggs are soft-shelled and round, preferably hidden in dark, moist areas like rocks and woodpiles.
Crocodiles
Crocodiles are large, tropical, semi-aquatic reptiles with long muscular bodies and strong jaws. Their eggs have hard shells and are laid on the nests they build on the land. The female guards the eggs until they hatch.
Amphibians
Amphibians lay their soft and gelatinous eggs grouped in batches in water. The eggs hatch into tadpoles for frogs and toads and aquatic larvae for salamanders and newts. After that, they undergo metamorphosis to become fully grown amphibians. Amphibians that give birth also exist.
Salmon
Salmon are widely known for migrating from the sea to freshwater to reproduce. They lay small, round, and translucent eggs on the river beds, where the eggs incubate until they hatch. Later on, they join their parents in their saltwater habitats.
Clownfish
Clownfish are small, colorful fish, usually orange and white, living in colonies among anemones in coral reefs. The eggs of clownfish are small in size, and they are transparent. They stick with the substratum close to anemones. The males are said to guard these eggs until they hatch.
Cod and Herring
These are among the most common fish in cold ocean waters, often schooling in large quantities. Both release large amounts of small, buoyant eggs into open water. Herring eggs are sticky and attach to surfaces, while cod eggs are free-floating.
Butterflies and Moths
These flying insects create their bright colors of wings and the transformation from caterpillar to adult. Eggs of butterflies and moths are usually small, patterned, and laid on leaves. They hatch as caterpillars, which eventually develop into an adult.
Bees
Bees are social insects since they can make honey from honeydew, which results in plant pollination. The female lays her eggs within the hexagonal cells inside the hive. Fertilized eggs develop into female breeding insects. The ones that are not fertilized develop into males.
Ants
Ants are small social insects that live in colonies with a division of labor or caste system. Female ants lay small, white eggs that develop into larvae before becoming workers, soldiers, or new queens and males.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are familiar insects of fields and meadows, recognized by their jumping legs and loud chirping. They lay their eggs in the ground, where they remain throughout the winter. The eggs are tiny, clustered together, and hatch in the spring into nymphs, which mature in midsummer into adults.
Spiders
Spiders are arachnids with eight legs and venomous fangs, known for spinning webs. Spider eggs are laid in silk sacs. Some species carry the sacs, while others hide them in safe spots.
Octopuses
Octopuses are medium to high-intelligence marine mollusks with soft bodies and eight arms. Their eggs are laid in clusters attached to the substrates in protected areas; the female can guard them until they hatch.
Squid
Squids are fast-swimming marine mollusks with elongated bodies and numerous limbs. Their eggs are laid in gelatinous capsules; they float or attach to rocks or coral as they develop.
Snails
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Snails are mollusks with a coiled shell, live in moist conditions, and have slow movements. Their eggs are small, mostly jelly-like, and usually laid in damp soils or under leaves in clusters.
