THE INCREDIBLE EDIBLE EGG

I am a little preoccupied by the upcoming eggstravaganza in a few days.  I am looking forward to decorating some eggs and I’m hoping the Easter Bunny brings me some chocolate ones to eat.  Producing an incredible edible egg is not a reliable way to sustain a population in nature.  Across the board, eggs are tasty nibbles for predators whether they are chocolate or not.  A hopeful, egg-laying parent would be more successful by laying eggs in an area with few predators.  In the water, everything (pretty much generalizing here) will eat eggs.  But that is not the case on land.  Which brings me to an interesting thought.  Eggs must be kept moist or they dry out and fail.  For an egg to survive on dry land, it must have an outer covering that keeps the egg from dehydrating.  This outer covering (shell) can be leathery (as in reptiles) or made of calcium carbonate (as in birds).  There is a downside to a shell.  It must also be permeable, allowing air to pass across it.  We don’t want our baby critters dying of hypoxia in the egg!  This permeability is possible because the shell is covered by tiny pores that allows air to pass through the egg.  Now, as you are decorating your Easter Eggs you can impress everyone with your knowledge of the importance and complexity of those egg shells!