Not to be captious, but I believe that such animals are actually ovoviviparous. (Or maybe I just like the sound of it.) Viviparous animals give birth to live young, as do mammals; ovoviviparous animals brood their eggs internally and deliver them after they have been hatched. Those that deliver eggs are oviparous. Perhaps the difference between ovoviviparous and viviparous mechanisms was not known at the time.

Last edited by csmoore; 04/11/2014 4:05 PM.