There will be an exact egg that contains the first chicken (defined as an animal that can fuck other chickens and produce offspring IIRC), that came before the first chicken because the chicken was in the egg.
Not really there is a well defined line that defines what is/isn’t a chicken, that’s really the only thing needed for this question.
The issue is the term proto-chicken isn’t well defined.
But for it to be considered a different species it would have to not be able to reproduce with a modern chicken (which doesn’t mean it can’t reproduce with early chickens).
The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated form of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is one of the most common and widespread domesticated animals in the world. Chickens are primarily kept for their meat and eggs, though they are also kept as pets.[1]
The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species of tropical, galliform bird in the phasianid family, found across much of Southeast and parts of South Asia.
A species (pl. species) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. It can be defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction.
The first two links are irrelevant because they describe physical characteristics and not a well defined line. The quotes you copied are vague descriptions at best.
The last quote you emphasized says “it can be defined” which shows it’s not a well defined line. Also, there are quite a few cross-species hybrids that have produced fertile offspring.
African forest elephants and African bush elephants are known to hybridize with each other where their ranges overlap.[17] Evidence shows that they can form hybrid zones where their ranges overlap, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Hybrids have been found to be fertile, and a significant number of elephants in hybrid zones, such as Kibale National Park in Uganda, show intermediate physical characteristics.
These birds aren’t even in the same family and have hybridized
The red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata, family Thraupidae) has hybridized between the northern cardinal (Cardinalia cardinalis, family Cardinalidae), shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis, family Icteridae), and chestnut-capped blackbird.
The concept of a species is a lot more flexible and less-defined than you think.
The exact definition doesn’t matter though, every chicken whether the first or the last, or from the blurry zone between proto-chicken and chicken, has many much older eggs in it’s ancestry. Probably somethig fish something.
Revolitionary single mutations do occure sometimes and can mean speciation, so in some cases, there can be one individual that is the true first of the new species.
At that point the genetic difference would be too small to not call that bird some sort of chicken.
Then go one generation further back until the laying bird statisfies your “not chicken” criteria.
Nope.
There will be an exact egg that contains the first chicken (defined as an animal that can fuck other chickens and produce offspring IIRC), that came before the first chicken because the chicken was in the egg.
I’m no biologist, but I’m pretty sure this ignores how fluid the evolution is from regular bird to proto-chicken to chicken.
By the well ordering theorem, no matter what you choose as your definition of “chicken”, there must be a first.
Not really there is a well defined line that defines what is/isn’t a chicken, that’s really the only thing needed for this question.
The issue is the term proto-chicken isn’t well defined.
But for it to be considered a different species it would have to not be able to reproduce with a modern chicken (which doesn’t mean it can’t reproduce with early chickens).
You’ll have no problem citing the exact definition then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_junglefowl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species
The first two links are irrelevant because they describe physical characteristics and not a well defined line. The quotes you copied are vague descriptions at best.
The last quote you emphasized says “it can be defined” which shows it’s not a well defined line. Also, there are quite a few cross-species hybrids that have produced fertile offspring.
Here’s a list of some
These birds aren’t even in the same family and have hybridized
The concept of a species is a lot more flexible and less-defined than you think.
The exact definition doesn’t matter though, every chicken whether the first or the last, or from the blurry zone between proto-chicken and chicken, has many much older eggs in it’s ancestry. Probably somethig fish something.
The point is that there’s no single generation where the species went from not a chicken to a chicken. That’s not how evolution works
No the point is exactly what i think , in exactly the way that i think it. I understand exactly entirely and completely how evolution works. /s
Revolitionary single mutations do occure sometimes and can mean speciation, so in some cases, there can be one individual that is the true first of the new species.