Weird Animal Question of the Week: Oddest Eggs of the Animal Kingdom
From the horn shark's "drill bit" to the lacewing's sticky stalks, eggs come in all shape and sizes.
Eggs across the animal kingdom range from simple to spectacular—even among the most common of barnyard animals, the chicken.
Our Weird Animal Question of the Week came to us via Danny Huynh, who asked: "My mom had a chicken coop with four chickens and they always lay eggs of different colors. Why are they of different colors?"
When it comes to chickens, the answer is genetics. There are over 50 breeds (check out the list on Oklahoma State's website), and their DNA dictates the color of the egg, says Jacquie Jacob, a poultry extension associate at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. (Learn more about heirloom chickens in National Geographic magazine.)
All eggs start out white, and any pigments
