The answer seems to be that at some point in the very recent past, the first fully domesticated chicken was hatched from an egg laid by it’s mother, who was almost-but-not-quite a domesticated version of the jungle fowl. But wait—was the egg a jungle fowl egg because it came from a jungle fowl or was it a chicken egg because it hatched a chicken? Yikes!
The answer seems to be that at some point in the very recent past, the first fully domesticated chicken was hatched from an egg laid by it’s mother, who was almost-but-not-quite a domesticated version of the jungle fowl. But wait—was the egg a jungle fowl egg because it came from a jungle fowl or was it a chicken egg because it hatched a chicken? Yikes!
Great story, er lesson, who says comics can’t be informative
Assume for the moment that the genus to which the species of chicken belongs is mammalian. Then, at what point would the fertilized ovum in a pre-chicken species become the embryo of a chicken?
Assume for the moment that the genus to which the species of chicken belongs is mammalian. Then, at what point would the fertilized ovum in a pre-chicken species become the embryo of a chicken?
It depends. If your Catholic, it occurs a moment before insemination.
Assume for the moment that the genus to which the species of chicken belongs is mammalian. Then, at what point would the fertilized ovum in a pre-chicken species become the embryo of a chicken?
It depends. If your Catholic, it occurs a moment before insemination.
Damned Catholic chickens, always making things complicated.
The answer seems to be that at some point in the very recent past, the first fully domesticated chicken was hatched from an egg laid by it’s mother, who was almost-but-not-quite a domesticated version of the jungle fowl. But wait—was the egg a jungle fowl egg because it came from a jungle fowl or was it a chicken egg because it hatched a chicken? Yikes!
It occurred to me that eating eggs may be instrumental to our continued possession of the reptilian part of our brain, but on further reading I found that the term “reptilian brain” actually refers to a still earlier brain structure. The “triune brain”.
Since this post is in the science section, the appropriate response comes from science in the wiki on Chicken or the egg
The modern chicken was believed to have descended from another closely related species of birds, the red junglefowl, but recently discovered genetic evidence suggests that the modern domestic chicken is a hybrid descendant of both the red junglefowl and the grey junglefowl. Assuming the evidence bears out, a hybrid is a compelling scenario that the chicken egg, based on the second definition, came before the chicken.
This implies that the egg existed long before the chicken, but that the chicken egg did not exist until an arbitrary threshold was crossed that differentiates a modern chicken from its ancestors. Since this arbitrary distinction cannot be made until after the egg has hatched, one would have to first find the original chicken, then from this find the first egg it laid.
Many Moons ago I was at a computer training seminar in Dayton Ohio.
A man asked me that chicken and egg question. I said egg. He asks, “What laid the egg?”
I said, “A dinosaur.”
He said, “I don’t think I want to talk to you anymore.”
psik
I use that answer too, but then they always ask me who laid the first egg….
Then you ask, “what is an egg”? That’ll stop them.
a. A female gamete; an ovum. Also called egg cell.
b. The round or oval female reproductive body of various animals, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and insects, consisting usually of an embryo surrounded by nutrient material and a protective covering.
