What adaptation allowed reptiles to lay eggs that do not dry up in...

There are no specimens of these left with us. However, these were ancestors of modern day frogs and salamanders. The amphibians evolved into reptiles. They lay thick- shelled eggs which do not dry up in sun unlike those of amphibians. Again we only see their modern day descendents, the turtles, tortoises and crocodiles. Giant ferns (pteridophytes) were present but they all fell to form coal deposits slowly. Some of these land reptiles went back into water to evolve into fish like reptiles probably 200 mya (e.g. Ichthyosaurs). The land reptiles were, of course, the dinosaurs. The biggest of them, i.e., Tyrannosaurus rex was about 20 feet in height and had huge fearsome dagger-like teeth. About 65 mya, the dinosaurs suddenly disappeared from the earth. We do not know the true reason. Some say climatic changes killed them. Some say most of them evolved into birds. The truth may live in between. Small sized reptiles of that era still exist today.