Which came first, egg or chicken? Scientists finally solved riddle

LONDON: According to the British monthly magazine Science Focus, the ancient riddle of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” has finally been resolved as scientists finally have a definitive answer to the evolutionary conundrum as to what came first.

It might be a simple question but if the egg came first, then who laid it? Because eggs come from chickens. And if the chicken came first then where did it come from? Because chickens hatch from eggs. So which came first?

Scientists have finally resolved the conundrum, according to them, eggs originated first. The report suggested that eggs have been around for more than a billion years, whereas the fossils of chickens have only been found for around 10,000 years.

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Experts observed that around 50 million years ago, the mating of red and grey jungle fowl, birds of Southeast Asia gave rise to the chickens we know today. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal claims that domesticating these birds began in Southeast Asia between 1650 and 1250 BC.

It has been discovered that chicken domestication occurred several times in various regions of Oceania and China after a group of archeologists discovered pieces of egg shells from twelve distinct locations dispersed around the Silk Road, indicating that chicken was a highly valued domestic bird.