What came first the chicken or the egg? It’s a puzzle that has confused people in the past and the present and hopefully will intrigue curious minds in the future as well. But, thanks to science, which has unveiled the mystery. Let’s crack the egg!
What comes first the chicken or the egg?
It’s a simple question, and logic says eggs come first. But if the egg comes first, then who laid it? Because eggs come from chickens, and chickens come from eggs.
And if you say it might be chicken come first, then the question arises: where did it come from? It’s because the chicken hatches from the egg. So, what came first?
To answer this question, you have to go back to the past. The answer to what came first, the chicken or the egg, lies in the process of how animals evolved.
Where do eggs come from?
Where do eggs come from
Okay, first of all, it’s pretty safe and scientifically proven to say that the eggs come first because it’s definite if there had been no egg, there would have been no chicken.
Undoubtedly, chickens are birds, and we know that birds evolved from reptiles. So, we can say that the first egg was laid by a reptile that a bird produced. Now, you might think, How did the first reptile come into the world? It’s something intriguing, but not today’s topic.
In short, reptiles also come from eggs, and we know reptiles have evolved from amphibians. The first reptile was an offspring of an amphibian with a bit of mutation.
What come first, chicken or the egg?
All the multicellular animals that practice sexual activities produce eggs. In fact, the first animal on Earth that lived billions of years ago, deep in the Precambrian, produced What Came First The Chicken or The Egg.
Let’s dive deeper to understand the mystery: what came first, the chicken or the egg?
The eggs:
The eggs
As stated above, eggs are produced by all the multicellular animals that reproduce through sexual activities. Scientifically speaking, the egg is a membrane-bound vessel inside which an embryo can grow. It helps the embryo to develop entirely until it can survive on its own.
The eggs became evident millions of years ago when the first amniotes laid eggs. Before that, many animals laid their eggs in water or other moist environments so as not to dry out.
All thanks to evolution, which produces better and better eggs. At some point in the past, the eggs evolved to the extent that they have three extra membranes inside.
- Chorion
- Amnion
- Allantoin
All these layers provided the egg with the following benefits:
- All in one support system.
- Stored nutritions
- Store excess waste products.
- Respire without the need for an external aquatic environment.
- The rigid shell was a source of extra protection, too.
Amniotic eggs transformed the world of animals. Because of extra layers and better protection, the animals could lay eggs across the land. What Came First The Chicken or The Egg
The fossils of egg membranes don’t make good fossil records, so science and planetology are still determining when this happened. But, whenever it happened, it happened for the greater good. But a few guesses based on history say that the first amnion existed some 370-340 million years ago, and a few say 312 million years ago.
Today, all mammals, reptiles, and birds are all descendants of the first amniotes.
Now, to completely solve the puzzle, what came first the chicken or the egg? Let’s discuss the following mystery: the chicken.
The first chicken:
The first chicken
As you know, the first chicken in the world resulted from a genetic mutation in the zygote produced by almost two partially or proto chickens. So, the first cell of the first chicken was produced by the nesting of two proto-chickens. During mating and zygote formation, a genetic mutation occurs in that first cell and is transferred to every body cell as the chicken embryo grows. As a result, the first actual chicken was produced.
So, this mutation produces the first true chicken, the Red Jungle fowl ( Gallus gallus). It’s native to Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. What Came First The Chicken or The Egg
Some archaeological evidence suggests that the red Jungle fowl was domesticated for the first time some 10,000 years ago.
On the other hand, DNA analysis suggests that the domestic chicken diverged from Jungle fowl more than 58000 years ago. The origin of domestic chicken is full of complicated history; it’s also believed that the yellow lines seen on the legs of chooks have evolved from gray jungle fowl ( Gallus sonneratii), not red. It reflects some sort of hybridization between species along the way.
So, the amniotic egg showed up 340 years ago, and the first chicken evolved some 58 thousand years ago. Hence, it’s pretty safe and logical to say that the egg came first.
But hold on, some experts did not claim that the chicken evolved first.
More info: Unique Animals That Start With U: Facts and Habitats 2024
Did Chicken Come First? The Second Theory
Some researchers examining the formation of chicken eggshells claimed that chicken came before the egg. They said that the primary ingredient of eggshells is calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). Eggshell formation requires calcium, which hens obtain from their diet (calcium-rich seafood shells, such as prawn or oyster shells, are a popular snack for backyard hens). Hence, the chicken came first before the egg.
So, to sum up, What Came First The Chicken or The Egg, followed by chicken. What are your views after reading this blog? What came first, the chicken or the egg?
