Reptile & Amphibian Forums

That is the question that my 8 year old son posed to me and I am stumped. Also, are there any other reptiles that are livebeareres? I looked and couldn't find any.

Why would basically the same type of animal have two different breeding methods? For instance, the python vs. boa, each are constrictors in a warm climate... why does one lay eggs while the other bears live young?

Thanks for any opinions!

Karen

np
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Sincerely,
Jason
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

I believe it is because they arent in an habitat that supports laying eggs.

Take the Boa constrictor and anaconda. I believe they both give birth to live young because in south american where there is a long flood season they cannot find a decent place to lay their eggs. They would simply be washed away.

Someone might have a more detailed explaination that is more correc then mine.
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"From my rotting body flowers shall grow, and i them - and that is eternity."

The best explanation for the origin of live bearing is that species that live in unstable environments with large fluctions in conditions, such as temp, rain fall, etc, have an advantage to have live births. Its an advantge because the mother can regulate her internal environment (seeking out the right temp., humidity and the like) but not the external one.

Sorry, dont know how to say that in an appropriate way for an 8 year old.
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“There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that whilst this planet has gone on cycling according to the fixed laws of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” -C. Darwin, 1859

The Lord knew what he was doing when he made egg layers, and live bearers. Evolution is the last thing an 8 yr old should be forced to swallow.

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>>The Lord knew what he was doing when he made egg layers, and live bearers. Evolution is the last thing an 8 yr old should be forced to swallow.

I agree. Don't make an 8 year old believe that organisms adapt both genetically and ontogenetically to their environments, both stable and unstable, over generations. Instead teach them that a big invisible Daddy did it all. Yeah, that's the ticket.