Reference Terms
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Egg (biology)
In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. It nourishes and protects the embryo. Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of many fish, amphibians and reptiles, all birds, the monotremes, and most insects and arachnids.
Reptile eggs, bird eggs, and monotreme eggs, which are laid out of water, are surrounded by a protective shell, either flexible or inflexible.
The 1.5 kg ostrich egg contains the largest existing single cell currently known, though the extinct Aepyornis and some dinosaurs had larger eggs. The bee hummingbird produces the smallest known bird egg, which weighs half a gram. The eggs laid by some reptiles and most fish are even smaller, and those of insects and other invertebrates are much smaller still. The study or collecting of eggs, particularly bird eggs, is called oology.
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Plants & Animals News
August 29, 2026
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Aug. 23, 2026 Researchers have used AI to uncover the DNA signature of a key genetic “switch” involved in turning genes on. After analyzing about 500,000 DNA sequences, the model identified the initiator in roughly 60% of human genes. The breakthrough could ...
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Aug. 9, 2026 Deep underground, bacteria may be capable of doing something remarkable: trapping toxic uranium before it spreads. When researchers fed microbes in uranium-contaminated mine water with glycerol, about 95% of the dissolved uranium disappeared within ...
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Aug. 28, 2026 Some chimpanzees in West Africa repeatedly throw rocks at particular trees, creating piles of stones that can remain in use for more than a decade. ...
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