What type of mammals lay eggs and have a method of incubation similar to birds?

Monotremes are a unique group of mammals that lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young, which is characteristic of most other mammals. Unlike marsupials, which nourish their young in pouches, and placental mammals, which provide nutrients during gestation, monotremes, such as the platypus and echidnas, reproduce by laying eggs that develop outside the mother's body.

The method of incubation in monotremes is notably similar to that of certain birds. After laying eggs, monotremes incubate them to ensure their development. For instance, female echidnas will curl around their eggs to provide warmth, similar to how birds broodingly incubate their eggs to maintain a suitable temperature for embryonic development. This method is significant as it highlights an evolutionary link between these mammals and birds concerning reproductive strategies.

Marsupials, ungulates, and carnivores, on the other hand, do not lay eggs. Marsupials carry and nurse their young in pouches, ungulates are characterized by giving birth to live young that are relatively developed, and carnivores also give birth to live young without an egg-laying phase. Thus, the distinctive reproductive strategy of laying eggs and incubating them places monotrem