• stupidcasey@lemmy.world
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    21 days 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
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        21 days 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.