adjective

• 1Zoology
  (of an animal) bringing forth live young that have developed inside the body of the parent.

  Compare with oviparous and ovoviviparous

  ‘The viviparous quadrupeds - literally means four-footed mammals bearing living offspring.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘These may be viviparous, in which case the mother's body provides nourishment to the embryo, or ovoviviparous, in which case the eggs develop without additional nourishment inside the mother.’
  • ‘Depending on environmental conditions, it can shift from viviparous to oviparous reproduction, with production of encysted and dehydrated embryos.’
  • ‘If only these creatures had been able to develop a viviparous capability, so that they could give birth to their babies at sea, they would have an assured future.’
  • ‘Females are viviparous and give birth to a single litter of up to five offspring.’

  1. 1.1Botany (of a plant) reproducing from buds that form plantlets while still attached to the parent plant, or from seeds that germinate within the fruit.
     ‘Evidence of a carotenoid mutant of rice was suggested by the phenotype of several mutants for which viviparous seeds germinated into albino seedlings.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Two new viviparous mutants showed some signs of precocious germination but did not emerge fully on the cob.’