What is considered to be the true opposite of oviparity?

whee	The true opposite of oviparity is placental viviparity, employed by almost all mammals (except for monotremes). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviparity Mar 02 08, 11:13 PM

queproblema

OK, Whee, you beat me by seconds. I was going to post that and then quibble. Here's the quibble: The true opposite is when a eutherian dies. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eutherian The "correct" answer contrasts egg-laying with live birth. Oviparity is egg-laying, or more exactly, the means of reproduction whereby the progeny hatches from eggs. (That sentence is for the unforgettable Mr. Galvin, 7th-grade life science!) What's the OPPOSITE of hatching--being born--from an egg? Dying, with a belly button. (Eutherians are critters with navels.) I'd have the same quibble if nulliparity were proposed as the true opposite of multiparity. In my wackiness I can construe the opposite of "nulliparity" (never giving birth)as "dying a thousand deaths." Get it? The opposite of multiparity would be eternal life--never dying. I know I'm being goofy with my extreme literalism, but I still think there's a difference between a contrast and a true opposite. Zero and a million are a contrast, for example, but the opposite of a million is -1,000,000, not zero. The only other two sites I could find substantiating placental viviparity as the "true opposite" of oviparity was a Wiki mirror and a Yahoo blog. I'm suggesting that line isn't exactly right. [Slight edit on length by Zbeckabee Mar. 3, 2008] Mar 02 08, 11:18 PM