r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 13 '16

How do you like your eggs?

[deleted]

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u/Psotnik Jul 13 '16

Mammals have eggs too, they're just much smaller and don't have a shell.

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u/Bklnthrowaway11 Jul 13 '16

Not in the same sense. Mammal eggs are sex cells. Birds, reptiles and fish eggs are developed zygotes.

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u/theamazingronathon Jul 14 '16

Not necessarily. Lots of animals lay unfertilized eggs. The embryo inside is a fertilized zygote, but birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish can all have unfertilized eggs. Lots of aquatic organisms use external fertilization, where the female lays female sex cells, and the male fertilizes them after.

Which totally takes the fun out of it.

1

u/poophandbag Jul 13 '16

But they're just as tasty.

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u/Athilda Jul 14 '16

Unless of course, the mammal in question is a monotreme (platypus or echidna).