What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? Find Out Now
Explore the fascinating history of eggs and chickens. Learn when eggs first appeared, how chickens evolved, and how the domestication process led to the first true chicken egg.
The first true birds emerged about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period.
Eggs have existed for millions of years, long before chickens or even birds came into being.
The earliest eggs, in their most basic form as reproductive cells, appeared about 325 million years ago. These early eggs didn’t have the hard shells we see today but were crucial for the reproduction of vertebrates on land.
Eggs have been around for millions of years, long before chickens. The first true birds emerged about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period, and like their dinosaur ancestors, these early birds laid eggs.
However, it wasn't until about 50 million years ago that chickens, specifically 'Gallus gallus domesticus, evolved from a subspecies of red jungle fowl.
Humans began domesticating chickens through selective breeding around 1650 to 1250 B.C. in Southeast Asia.
During this process, a bird closely related to the chicken laid an egg that hatched into the first true chicken.
While eggs have existed for hundreds of millions of years, the "chicken egg" — one laid by a chicken — came after the chicken itself.
Eggs, in their broader form, have played a vital role in reproduction long before the modern chicken appeared.
