Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Question

Is the first time that I make this question. Can you answer me?

Answer 1

the animal from which the chicken evolved

Answer 2

Chicken and egg debate unscrambled
Egg came first, 'eggsperts' agree

Friday, May 26, 2006; Posted: 7:33 a.m. EDT (11:33 GMT)


The question has baffled scientists through the ages.

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."

The debate, which may come as a relief to those with argumentative relatives, was organized by Disney to promote the release of the film "Chicken Little" on DVD.

Answer 3

If your talking about just the facts here Chicken vs Egg. The Chicken had to be there first in order for there to be an egg.

Answer 4

The chicken. Because it evolved from something else. The egg couldn't be layed untill the chicken came along to lay it. Maybe the chicken was a mistake & was meant to be a duck. It tastes good anyway!

Answer 5

An animal developed into a chicken so I would say the egg that created the modern day chicken was created by another similiar life form.

Answer 6

the egg

the question never states what kind of egg

even if it was a chicken egg, the egg still would have come first
a bird would slowly be evolving into a chicken until a 99% chicken laid an egg that contained the 100% chicken

Answer 7

Invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles and even other birds were laying eggs long before chickens evolved. So the egg definitely came first.

Answer 8

the question should be what came first, the chicken or the chicken egg. the chicken god created all beings who then went and procreated.

Answer 9

If you are a creationist, the chicken. If you are an evolutionist, the egg. Doesn't matter, I'll eat both.

Answer 10

who would care for the egg if there were no chicken.