Ask Dr. Universe: Everybody asks – what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Dear Friends,

I get amazing questions from curious kids all over the world. So many of you want to know whether chickens or eggs came first.

It turns out, that’s one of the first questions I ever received – way back in 2001. A lot has changed since then. But a lot has stayed the same, including my answer, which was originally in the form of a comic.

To find out the answer, I read my notes from my late friend Ken Kardong, former zoologist at Washington State University.

He had told me the chicken evolved millions of years after the egg.

Amphibians were the first vertebrates to crawl up from the water onto land. Even today, amphibians lay their soft-shell eggs in water or moist places, so they don’t dry out.

Reptiles evolved from amphibians. Their eggs are hard shelled. This keeps them from drying out and allows reptiles to reproduce on land.

Modern life is the result of millions of years of species adapting to their environments. That’s how the eggs of some amphibians gradually got harder. It’s how a branch of amphibians with harder eggs became reptiles. And reptiles gradually evolved into birds – like chickens.

I guess it was a long journey from the first egg to the very first chicken. Here’s to 25 more egg-cellent years as your resident science cat.

Sincerely,

Dr. Universe