the truth behind the "chicken came first" report from the UK

[acroyear]

Chickens, eggs, this is no way to report on science : Pharyngula:

You simply can't make the conclusion the reporter was making here. The species ancestral to Gallus gallus laid eggs, the last common ancestor of all birds laid eggs, the reptiles that preceded the birds laid eggs…the appearance of egg laying was not coincident with the evolution of ovocleidin. The first chicken that acquired the protein we call ovocleidin now by mutation of a prior protein also hatched from an egg.

What were the people involved in this story thinking?

Comments

Why are people still asking this question?

[spicyapplegirl.livejournal.com]

The EGG came first because the first chicken on earth began as an egg inside its mother, who was a species similar to, but not exactly, a chicken. The chick fetus contained one or more random mutations that changed beak shape, feather shape/color/distribution, or some other characteristic so that the hatchling was a new species of bird -- the chicken. It matured, mated, and passed on these distinctive traits, and now there are millions of chickens the world over. Granted, they are widely diversified in size, color, etc, but each still contains the essential traits of the species.

*sad sigh* You are right -- ovocleidin has nothing to do with it, and this is no way to report science. :-(

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

It's really a creationism/Darwinism question, the chicken and the egg. If you are a creationist, then the first chicken was created by God and didn't come from an egg. If you are a Darwinist, then every chicken came from an egg, and there was a first chicken whose egg came from a pre-chicken of some sort.

Or maybe you ordered a chicken sandwich from one deli, and an egg-salad sandwich from a second deli. You decide to only tip the fastest driver, so it becomes important to know, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"