Okay so we all know about the evolution 'theory' but a question was brought up to me today at school and it really made me think. So, here it is... What comes/came first? A chicken or the egg? This got me thinking because everyone says that animals were just here so a chicken just came out of nowhere. But, how is this possible without an egg? It's always talked about the animal, and never its birthplace, in this case, an egg. Your comments?
Just like with all animals in evolution, the chicken came to be slowly, as a result of genetic changes due to natural selection, and variation in the mating process, so for the chicken, essentially: So basically the mix between male and female DNA, and/or the changes occuring in the creation of the zygote. Therefore, for logical reasons, the being that would meet our criteria as a chicken, would likely exit the egg, and then lay a chicken egg, but it depends on if the egg is considered a chicken's egg, or an egg containing a chicken, which will vary from person to person. Source Source(See 2.1 for alternate responses, and 2.2 for evolution points)
The egg. Species are created through a slow process of genetic mutation/differention. So, two creatures very similar to a chicken had a baby who, with its slight differences from its parents, was a chicken.
Okay. The first creatures were like some kind of germ that could survive in like the crappiest conditions you could ever dream of. Some mutated as the earth became more inhabitable. Some into a type of moss if I remember correctly, and some a type of microscopic swimming bug. After that the bug mutated more and more and feasted on the moss, became a fish, then a LONG time later became some kind of land animal that layed eggs. That mutated into the chicken we have today. Lol. That's the way I see it. I watched that discovery channel documentary like 2 years ago. SO YES THE EGG WAS "INVENTED" FIRST.
Okay, the Earth is 4.6 billion years old. But for its first billion years, Earth did not have life; it was all lava that was drying to form the crust. Then, water became existent and the atmosphere was changing so the first form of life was unicellular organisms (Bacteria) Then slowly; I mean over the course of millions of years, these unicellular organisms evolved into sea creatures. And I can go into more depth about this but that would take forever and I am sure non of you guys want to read a wall of text...
^^^Did you two read the question? He basically asked "Which came first; the chicken or the egg?" not how life became what it is today.
Yeah, let me put this in layman's terms; If it was the egg, it would need the warmth provided by the mother; therefore it would die.
Yes but what if it's mother was not a chicken? What if like ONE strand of DNA was not yet exact to that we call the chicken. Ever think of that? What if that egg was just slightly mutated enough to be considered the first chicken ever. Also, if you are looking at it the right way, you could say that the chicken was not around yet but eggs were a common "invention" used by animals thousands of years before the chicken's existence. EGG FIRST PROBLEM SOLVED.
The mother would be similar to a chicken, but not exactly a chicken, as in my sources. It all depends on if you think the egg that contains the chicken, but not of a chicken, or the chicken that hatches from said egg (presumably laying an egg of chicken) counts as the actual first. So basically, if an ostrich(somehow) layed an egg containing a chicken, would that be the chicken egg, or would the egg the chicken layed be the chicken egg. Religion has nothing to do with this, as it is a debate with a founding principle of Evolution. All the DNA strands are either not of chicken, or of chicken, based on the zygote. The zygote's mutation, or mutation occuring as the female and male contributions are the only natural mutations that would affect the animal to truly be a chicken.
I don't think this is exactly referring to chickens, but the life of all animals. I think it's the evolution of bacteria, producing asexually over time, then evolving into more advanced creatures. So by the time the first mammal adapted the ability to lay eggs, it was already developed. So I guess what I'm trying to say is chicken first. Also, don't end it with "EGG FIRST PROBLEM SOLVED." This is a debate.
The one problem is that for scientific purposes, ownership of an egg, whether it be the parents, or the new born is such an obscure subject, I couldn't find it. I will have to stick to the analysis that the parent owns the egg, therefore the chicken came first, as it must have been there to lay the egg.
well if you want the answer in relation to evolution, it would be the egg. why? because there were eggs before there were chickens most likely. There would be other birdlike creatures that laid eggs before chickens came to past. so logically, the egg of another animal came first (probably some dinosaur way far ago) and then through years of evolution, then came the chicken. i don't believe this, but this is the answer according to the theory of evolution.
I think what he is asking is can life derive from non living things? The answer, is yes. When certain proteins and carbon atoms combine in the right conditions (very, very rare), they create a very primitive "life" being. This simple organism then evolved into a more advanced one cell organism, which then evolved further....and so on so forth. Its a very odd phenomenon, but it is possible. Life can be created from nothing.
Sorry DtL. I was answering the question as it was asked. But yeah that's a great point... and an even better argument
Yeah, it turns out there was never an egg. lol There was just a single cell organism using mitosis. Go figure.
The answer is the egg, it can never be the chicken. Chickens come from eggs. The very first chicken to have modern chicken DNA will have come from an egg with modern chicken egg DNA. For the chicken to "come first", the chicken would have had to change its DNA as it broke out of its shell. A chicken could lay an egg with new DNA but a chicken couldn't change its own DNA at will.
This is exactly what I'm trying to get at. But I hear that animals came first but I think its the egg. But how could the chicken come first without the egg?
There are some instances where an animal in a young state will develope certain traits to fit their environment. It was never in their DNA, but the outside environment triggered the change. An egg has never experienced the outside environment, so how could it adapt and change on its own?
Depends on how you look at it. The Chicken came first, the chicken evolved through the processes which have been outlined in the evolution debate thread (which really wasn't a debate). Which laid an egg continuing the species. The Egg came first, when the slightly unchicken female laid the egg that would become the original chicken, so the unchicken's egg which contained the appropriate mutations to make a chicken, makes the egg also a chicken egg. Because how could a chicken come from any other egg? The second is a bit more ridiculous, but hey, it's all how you look at it. Of course you could just screw over the debate and say that the dinosaur egg came before the chicken. Technicality, FTW.