Our world is full of some truly strange and interesting eggs! From corkscrew-shaped egg capsules which keep the egg secure to long stalks that keep predators away, animals have evolved traits which ensure the survival of their young against all odds. So, let's take a look at 5 of our favourite strange animal eggs!
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Surinam toads
The Surinam toad is a great place to start when looking at the weird and wonderful world of animal eggs. What sets these amphibians’ eggs apart from others is that they’re grown on the backs of the females! When mating, the female will release 60 to 100 eggs that are then fertilised and pushed back into the female’s back by the male. The eggs then become embedded in the toad, with skin growing around them until they’re completely covered. After growing for 3-4 months, the toadlets wriggle around to loosen the skin around their egg until they can burst through their mother’s back and make their way into the world!
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Green lacewing eggs
These insect eggs look straight out of a fantasy novel – but they’re real! These tiny eggs are usually laid on long silken stalks, either by themselves or in clusters up the side of plants near aphid colonies that the freshly hatched larvae can feed on. The long stalks protect the eggs from predators and lacewings can lay up to a hundred eggs. The eggs darken as they mature and hatch only 4 days after being laid! Talk about a quick change!
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Mermaid's Purses
Sadly not real mermaid’s purses, these eggs are laid by sharks and get their names due to their resemblance to handbags! Sharks reproduce in many unique ways. Some give birth to live young (viviparous), while others lay eggs. Due to the nature of the ocean – with strong currents and curious predators – these sharks have evolved ingenious ways to ensure their newborns survive. Some eggs attach to the sea floor or seaweed via long tendrils. Californian horn sharks lay corkscrew-shaped eggs, which they lodge in the little spaces between rocks.
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Horseshoe Crab
What’s unique about this animal’s eggs is the number of them! One horseshoe crab can lay up to 4,000 eggs in a single cluster and in a single night, she can lay over 100,000 eggs. These eggs are laid on the sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast when the tide is at its highest. They look like tiny pearls and hatch in 2-4 weeks, with the larvae emerging from the sand and going straight into the ocean.
Seahorses
Seahorse eggs are special for how they are developed! Female seahorses pass their eggs on to the male after fertilisation for him to brood. This is done so that the female can begin to grow and fertilise the next batch of eggs, meaning that seahorses can continually produce and hatch eggs for the length of the breeding season. After hatching, the new seahorses are incredibly vulnerable so by continuously reproducing, the seahorses ensure the best chance of survival for their broods. The eggs get all of the oxygen and nutrients they need within the male and they hatch after 14-28 days.
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