What was first the egg or the chicken?

TRUE! Asked by je8047 9 months ago, 31 answers.

What was first the egg or the chicken?

Answered by funadvice on Mar 02, 2008, 06:23AM
| 42395 answers.

It is not unanswerable britz14 ,
See my response above. However, you may not like or agree with the answers. But that is a different story. *smile*

Also see the following from a CNN Science debate:

LONDON, England -- It's a question that has baffled scientists, academics and pub bores through the ages: What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Now a team made up of a geneticist, philosopher and chicken farmer claim to have found an answer. It was the egg.

Put simply, the reason is down to the fact that genetic material does not change during an animal's life.

Therefore the first bird that evolved into what we would call a chicken, probably in prehistoric times, must have first existed as an embryo inside an egg.

Professor John Brookfield, a specialist in evolutionary genetics at the University of Nottingham, told the UK Press Association the pecking order was clear.

The living organism inside the eggshell would have had the same DNA as the chicken it would develop into, he said.

"Therefore, the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg," he added. "So, I would conclude that the egg came first."

The same conclusion was reached by his fellow "eggsperts" Professor David Papineau, of King's College London, and poultry farmer Charles Bourns.

Mr Papineau, an expert in the philosophy of science, agreed that the first chicken came from an egg and that proves there were chicken eggs before chickens.

He told PA people were mistaken if they argued that the mutant egg belonged to the "non-chicken" bird parents.

"I would argue it is a chicken egg if it has a chicken in it," he said.

"If a kangaroo laid an egg from which an ostrich hatched, that would surely be an ostrich egg, not a kangaroo egg."

Bourns, chairman of trade body Great British Chicken, said he was also firmly in the pro-egg camp.

He said: "Eggs were around long before the first chicken arrived. Of course, they may not have been chicken eggs as we see them today, but they were eggs."

| 1 of 1 thought this was helpful

Answered by benko on Mar 02, 2008, 01:20AM

nobody knows...

Answered by shundarr on Mar 02, 2008, 01:32AM
| 169 answers.

eggs were around long before chickens

Answered by stopandsmelltheroses on Mar 02, 2008, 03:00AM
| 401 answers.

ARE YOU TRYING TO START A DEBATE HERE???
Gosh! just be thankful its not peak hour on here or there'd be a massive evolutionism/creationism debate, in which everyone says the same thing over again. I've moved on from forum type debates, you can never keep anything straight... hopefully by mentioning it, I've nipped it in the bud...

you do not know how close you came to that, my friend. be very very careful...

chicken, by the way.

Answered by funadvice on Mar 02, 2008, 03:16AM
| 42395 answers.

An animal that evolved into egg laying. Much like all animals on earth, there is an egg somewhere along the reproductive line...like which came first the seed or the tree? Trees evolved into seed production for survival. Same as flowers have evolved to attract bees to pollinate...etc, etc, etc.

Or a God did it...some would say "Our father"...but then he'd need a Mother too, but thats another debate altogether.

Answered by xsexyx on Mar 02, 2008, 03:55AM
| 31 answers.

WHO KNOWS??!X

Answered by funadvice on Mar 02, 2008, 04:07AM
| 42395 answers.

It was the egg.

It would have been laid by something very similar to a chicken but not quite. A sort of genetic mutation if you like. (along the lines of a mutation like an albino animal)

When it hatched, it would have been the first chicken as we now know it.

Well, thats my understanding of this.

| 1 of 1 thought this was helpful

Answered by britz14 on Mar 02, 2008, 04:53AM
| 462 answers.
Advisor-small

An apparently unanswerable question... Though I would like it answered... It is damn annoying me!
Britz

Answered by funadvice on Mar 02, 2008, 07:13AM
| 42395 answers.

chickens before eggs...without chickens, there would be no eggs!

Answered by jemmysaur on Mar 02, 2008, 07:38AM
| 110 answers.

misskitty22345:

If there was no egg, there couldn't be a chicken...

haha, I think its impossible to answer this question, no-one knows.

Answered by funadvice on Mar 02, 2008, 07:42AM
| 42395 answers.

It is actually possible to answer this question from a scientific point of view, please see my response above...*smile*

Answered by true_hero on Mar 04, 2008, 12:30AM
| 6 answers.

for me... chicken comes first than it would be egg... if people sae egg come first, where wld the egg come from??? and if I sae chicken, wer would the chicken come from? probably egg right? OMG!!! I'M LOST... please... anyone...

Answered by funadvice on Mar 04, 2008, 01:26AM
| 42395 answers.

Hi true_hero,

Please see my long posting 5 posts above this one and my second posting from the top.

This should adress your confusion...

Answered by foshizzlemanizzle on Mar 04, 2008, 01:27PM
| 1058 answers.

I only get this question now after a year of everyone asking it...I'm such a dope

Answered by funadvice on Mar 04, 2008, 01:49PM
| 42395 answers.

No prob foshizzlemanizzle,
I had to look it up to remind myself...

Answered by teachel on Mar 05, 2008, 05:59PM
| 1176 answers.

chicken

Answered by funadvice on Mar 05, 2008, 11:30PM
| 42395 answers.

If you believe this to be the case, where exactly did the chicken come from???

Answered by teachel on Mar 06, 2008, 03:29PM
| 1176 answers.

GOD made the chicken.

Answered by funadvice on Mar 06, 2008, 10:42PM
| 42395 answers.

Oh dear, here we go again...

| 0 of 1 thought this was helpful

Answered by britz14 on Mar 14, 2008, 10:14PM
| 462 answers.
Advisor-small

thanks kiasu. How did you find that out?
Hey, teachel, couldn't God have made the egg before anyway?
Sorry if my constant need for a debate annoys people.

Answered by funadvice on Mar 15, 2008, 12:57AM
| 42395 answers.

It took a lot of researching britz14 and personal curiosity when I saw the question posted.

It is interesting to see some of the posts that have clearly either not read or ignored my previous anser that explains this theory.

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