FRICK INVESTIGATES: WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH EGGS?
They’re white, they’re kinda round, and they cost more than bus fare. Also, they’re hella WEIRD!
Hello nature fans!
Gordie here, now that Easter has passed and you had eggs on the brain...we got a new podcast hot off the press!
EPISODE FOUR OF THE FRICK, I LOVE NATURE PODCAST!
Whether it’s Easter or paying $9 per dozen, eggs are in the news. But what do we really know about these delicious breakfast orbs? How did they evolve? Why do they exist? Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that eggs are weird. Really weird. Think about it, most animals lay SOME kind of egg. Why did they all decide to go with that? Did they have a meeting about it? If so, why weren’t mammals invited?
To find out, we interviewed Dr. Ashley Ferguson, a palaeontologist who specializes in dinosaur nests and studies the evolution of eggs. Dr. Ferguson knows more about eggs than a breakfast chef and we were so lucky she was available to answer all our weird egg questions.
So go listen to the episode. It’s on Spotify, Apple, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
If you like it, give us a 5-star review. Heck, chuck us a 5-star review even if you don’t like it!
And now for the rest of the Frick Newsletter…
COOL AS HECK FACTS ABOUT EGGS!!!
Fact #1: EGG vs EGG
This is the shining cowbird; it's an obligate brood parasite, meaning they don't make nests, lay its eggs in other birds, and gets those birds to take care of their babies. So they are kinda like the nature version of a deadbeat dad. There have also been some studies suggesting that they damage the host's eggs to give their eggs a better chance at survival. BUT what gets even more bonkers is that there have also been studies suggesting that they have evolved thicker eggs to be able to survive the impact of being laid from higher positions. Laying them from a higher position makes it much quicker for the birds, but also has been seen to also use their eggs to damage host eggs, like a lil egg wrecking ball! Brood parasite birds are truly, wild, go, GO, learn more about them, they are freakin wild.
Fact #2: The Biggest Egg Ever
You might think that the largest eggs were laid by the largest dinosaurs, but that isn’t the case! In fact, many big dinos had relatively small eggs compared to their size. The largest egg ever found belonged to the now-extinct Elephant Bird and came in at 16in long, 10in wide, and weighed an estimated 23 lbs. That is 4 inches longer than a Subway sub, and the width is 2 inches shorter than the length of a Subway sub! If this bird weren't extinct, it certainly would be “eating fresh “.
Fact #3: Phasmid Eggs
Phasmids are stick insects and many of these species lay eggs with a fatty cap on one side. Why? To attract ants, yah silly goose! Ants bring the eggs into their nests and eat the fatty capsule while leaving the rest of the egg untouched. Months later the eggs will hatch and release baby phasmids which, coincidentally, look a LOT like ants. The babies make their way out of the colony and begin their lives as stick insects.
Fact #4: TOO MANY EGGS
The Mola mola (or ocean sunfish) is enormous, weighing in at over 2,000lbs. But what’s even more enormous is its egg-laying ability. Female Mola molas lay more eggs than any other vertebrate on the planet, producing and releasing over 300 MILLION of them at a time. If that were money like its name suggests, it would be rich!
That’s all for this newsletter. Now go learn about eggs! Here are the Spotify and Apple links again, but you can find the show on any podcast platform. Go! Listen now!
Thanks for reading Natureinos!
– Gordie & The Frick Team