what is the term for a mammal that lays eggs
The reason that odd, egg-laying mammals still exist today may be because their ancestors took to the water, scientists now suggest. The egg-laying mammals â the monotremes, including the platypus and spiny anteaters â are eccentric relatives to the rest of mammals, which bear live young. In addition to laying eggs, other quirks make them seem more like reptiles than our kin. They have a reptilian gait with legs on the sides rather than underneath the body, for instance, and a single duct for urine, feces and sex instead of multiple openings.