# Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 29, 1999, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514 "1999-04-29T12:43:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514/41 "2011-12-28T23:19:38Z")

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I’m not sure, but they don’t float.

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**Author:** ![1iLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/1ileft/32/4114_2.png) [@1iLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1iLeft)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514/42 "2011-12-28T23:32:47Z")

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> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Anyone responding should note that this thread originated in the Paleocyberic Era.

Impossible. There weren’t any eggs back then - let alone teh Internetz. Unless perhaps… they migrated?

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**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514/43 "2011-12-28T23:37:10Z")

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> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Anyone responding should note that this thread originated in the Paleocyberic Era.

Yes, that’s when kids listened to _real_ music, and ova were zygotes.

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**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/10514/44 "2011-12-28T23:39:54Z")

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A chicken was born from an egg.

This egg was laid by a 99.99999% chicken.

The 99.99999% chicken hatched from an egg laid by a 99.99998% chicken.

The 99.99998% chicken hatched from an egg laid by a 99.99997% chicken.

The 99.99997% chicken hatched from an egg laid by a 99.99996% chicken.

The 99.99996% chicken hatched from an egg laid by a 99.99995% chicken.

The 99.99995% chicken hatched from an egg laid by a 99.99994% chicken.

Etc, etc, going back a few billion years to something thats 0.0000001% chicken.

The only reason its difficult to grasp is the idea that species are some set, concrete definition.

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