• stupidcasey@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 month ago

    Fun fact, ostrich eggs are nearing The largest land eggs can physically get, so even the dinosaurs didn’t have much bigger eggs.

        • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
          1·
          1 month ago

          I got curious and your assumption is correct for one of the limiting factors.

          Here is what I found:

          • The shell must be strong enough to support the egg’s weight and protect the embryo, but thin enough for the chick to break through when hatching.
          • As size increases, the weight grows cubically (volume), but shell strength only increases quadratically (surface area), so there’s a point where the shell would have to be too thick to hatch from.
          • The distance from the shell to the center increases.
          • Oxygen diffusion becomes inefficient, and the embryo could suffocate.
          • Larger eggs are harder to keep at a uniform temperature.
          • Birds incubating the eggs would need to generate and distribute more heat, which is physically demanding.
      • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
        1·
        1 month ago

        Here is what I found:

        • The shell must be strong enough to support the egg’s weight and protect the embryo, but thin enough for the chick to break through when hatching.
        • As size increases, the weight grows cubically (volume), but shell strength only increases quadratically (surface area), so there’s a point where the shell would have to be too thick to hatch from.
        • The distance from the shell to the center increases.
        • Oxygen diffusion becomes inefficient, and the embryo could suffocate.
        • Larger eggs are harder to keep at a uniform temperature.
        • Birds incubating the eggs would need to generate and distribute more heat, which is physically demanding.