Mike McBeath, age 13, of Tulsa, OK

Do all reptiles lag eggs?

The snakes and lizards, the turtles and crocodiles are in the class Reptilia  the crawling animals  Almost all of them lay sizable, softshelled eggs and leave them buried in the ground to be hatched by the heat of the sun  The mother crocodile may stand guard like a dragon near by her nest, which is a large pile of rotting trash  But most‑reptiles are very neglectful mothers and never even stay around to meet their children after they hatch 

A small number of the reptiles, however, give birth to babies that are fully developed from the egg  Actually, the large reptile eggs stay inside the mother’s body until the young are ready to hatch  Then they come forth as miniature copies of their parents  The sea snakes, the boas and certain other snakes are reptiles who give birth to live babies