Posted on 06/22/2017 8:51:26 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
But the universe of wild bird eggs is far weirder and more diverse than the oval products on the supermarket shelf. Hummingbirds lay eggs shaped like Tic Tac mints - "perfect little ellipses," per ornithologist and evolutionary biologist Mary Stoddard. Sandpiper eggs come to peaks, in the manner of teardrops. Owls plop out tight spheres not unlike ping-pong balls ... scientists linked egg shapes to birds' flight behavior. Stronger fliers, such as swallows, had elongated or pointy eggs. Birds that couldn't fly so far or fast had rounder, more symmetric ones... Aristotle, said Douglas G.D. Russell, curator of the egg and nest collections at London's Natural History Museum, "believed the cock hatched from a pointed chicken egg and hens from the rounder." The analysis revealed adaptations for an aerodynamic body had a "knock-on effect" for egg shape, Stoddard said. Pointy or elongated eggs don't help a gravid bird fly, in other words. But the demands of powerful flight restructured internal organs. The abdominal cavity of the superior fliers became smaller, for example, forcing egg shape to change
(Excerpt) Read more at ndtv.com ...
Now I can FINALLY move on with my life.
Thank you science!!!!
Probably discovered by a shell company...
How much did this cost us?
Square eggs wouldn’t be good in a round frying pan.
Eggsactly.
“believed the cock hatched from a pointed chicken egg and hens from the rounder.”
An Irish ‘lady’ once whispered this in my ear back in my Navy days.
I’m just waiting for a farmer or Agricultural Scientist to produce a square egg. I’ve already seen square melons and tomatoes. The advantage there is these two vegs can be more efficiently packed and trucked away with less probable damage. I suppose a square egg is pretty much impossible, unless the soft beginning form is removed from the bird and placed in a little square shaped mold. Not very likely to occur. What would be the point other than novelty?
YES!
Untold masses have been waiting for this research.
Now they can return to regularly scheduled TV programing.
I have never wondered ... it always just seemed to be the Right Correct Shape
Am I weird? I also don’t question the shape of Mountains or the amount of CO2 in the Air.
“How much did this cost us?”
I didn’t notice any connection to global warming; therefore not much.
But which came first?
So that they would make good omelettes?
Did they figure out which came first, the Results or the Government Grant?
Always remember: A wet bird, never flies at night.
All I really care about is whether round or oval shaped eggs taste better.
Turtle eggs are round.
Why are lizard and snake eggs elliptical?
Ping to Salamander.
A square egg would be pretty hard on a lady bird. But you can have square eggs to eat, if you want: and it is a nice novelty:
” I also don’t question the shape of Mountains “
I thought everyone was concerned about the angle of repose?
And why so few big walls exist?
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