WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:02.480 Hey, what's up. So it's twenty twenty one, and it's 2 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.320 a lady from your mom's book club, one who apologizes 3 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:07.280 even when she brings cookies and up top, I want 4 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.119 to tell you that this is an encore of an 5 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:12.919 episode that went up in twenty eighteen, and it has 6 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:17.839 a ton of never before heard bonus content and asides 7 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.120 that I cut out from the previous release. So you 8 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:23.519 have not heard a lot of this, and I'm giving 9 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:25.679 it another spin because many of you have never heard 10 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.519 oology and 'tis the season to scoop up a lot 11 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.840 of discount Easter candy at the drugstore, And I'm working 12 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.119 on a big episode for next week that's going to 13 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:36.840 blow your minds, and so I wanted to just take 14 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.600 a little bit of a breather there. But here is 15 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:45.520 Eggs alongside seriously egregious, egg Gregious. I'm so sorry. That 16 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.039 wasn't even an intentional amount of asides. You may listen 17 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:51.479 to these asides and say, boy, howdy, that's a lot 18 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.640 of asides, But I'm happy to have this info on 19 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:59.000 pagan holidays and ostrich nests. Okay, let's dive in. Okay, Hey, 20 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:01.840 it's that Hi, Hi, it's a lady from your mom's 21 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:05.239 book club. Hi, the one who apologizes even when she 22 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:09.079 brings cookies. Yeah, Hi, it's Ali Ward back with another 23 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:13.439 episode Amologies. Oh man, I never knew I needed this episode. Like, 24 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:17.239 we've had an episode about ornithology birds, but now we're 25 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:19.599 gonna get to the heart, the heart of the matter. 26 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.560 And by heart I mean butt, and by butt I 27 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.920 mean kloaca. So what is it kloaca? Well, as I've 28 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.599 said before, it's kind of like the home button on 29 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.920 an iPhone, like if Steve Jobs had designed an orifice, 30 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:38.599 just a multipurpose little boop. It's good for sensual adult times, 31 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:43.000 for egg laying and pooh. So today we're gonna be 32 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:47.319 cracking wise about eggs. Oh, so many eggs, So many 33 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.040 glorious eggs. What a wonder? Okay, but first, this podcast 34 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:54.159 Really Quick would not exist without patrons. On patreon dot 35 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.200 com slash ologies, you can support for a dollar an 36 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.200 episode a dollar a month. Patrons get to hear what 37 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:03.799 episodes are coming up next and submit questions for theologists. 38 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.920 And I say, your name is right as my mouth 39 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:14.319 possibly can. Also ologiesmerch dot com has backpacks, caps, bikinis, shirts, 40 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.039 there's totes, gifts, pins all science themed. But if money's 41 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.680 tight because the world is falling apart and it's on fire, 42 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.960 that's okay. Rating and subscribing and reviewing keeps ologies up 43 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.960 in the charts where other people can see it and say, 44 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.000 what is this podcast that talks about slug Dix? And 45 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:36.919 why does this lady call herself my dad? I read 46 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.439 all of your reviews. I'm upfront about it, all right. 47 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:42.800 I'm kind of like a concerned parent reading the diary 48 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:45.639 that you left open on the counter, and so to 49 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:48.719 prove it, just like I do every week, I shout 50 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.879 out one reviewer, and this week I would like to 51 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:55.919 thank Beyonce two three, seven oh six. Maybe that's Beyonce, 52 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.759 perhaps it's a different Beyonce who says this podcast makes 53 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:03.159 me to make the world a better place. I love 54 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:05.520 hearing all of these people who I would normally think 55 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:08.400 of as existing on another plane and finding out that 56 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.840 they're just people and I could be one of them too. 57 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.479 I read that earlier today and literally started crying. So 58 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:19.680 thank you Beyonce for that. Okay, let's get that shell 59 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.080 back to this excellent episode, shall we. By the way, 60 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:26.719 that is why I call myself here, dad, Okay, So 61 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:29.319 why is it called oology? Why are there so many 62 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:33.400 god dang oh's in this word? Okay comes from one, guess, Yes, 63 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.599 the Greek for ion, meaning egg, and it's a branch 64 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.240 of ornithology that deals with eggs. I want to think 65 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.479 that the oo in oology is just because the moos 66 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.199 look like little eggies, but that's not true. Okay, So 67 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.639 this interview, what a what a treat? Okay. I was 68 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:54.520 in Chicago for a few days and I reached out 69 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.879 to the wonderland that is the Field Museum via the 70 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:02.159 Brain Scoops Emily Grassley, hey girl, and they hooked me up. 71 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:04.599 So not only did they give me a quiet room 72 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:07.800 to record the epidemiology episode with the errands of this 73 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.800 podcast will kill You, but they were also like, yo, 74 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.280 we got an egg dude for you. So Kate Golumbski, 75 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:18.160 I owe you like ten puppies. Kate met me at 76 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.519 the Field and she walked me through the ornithology lab. Whoa, hi, 77 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.879 so many of you are up some steps. 78 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:27.319 You know. 79 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:29.600 What I didn't realize also is that this museum is 80 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.399 so big that our commute from one office to the other, 81 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:33.879 that's a good time. 82 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:34.319 In a commute. 83 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.639 I should have left a trailer breadcrumbs to the office 84 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:42.399 of an expert in bird babies, this kind faced, spectacled 85 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:45.560 gentleman with thick salt and pepper hair and a desk 86 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.839 piled with eggbooks and field notes. But it was a 87 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.360 Friday afternoon at four pm, and I just hated to 88 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.040 keep him from his weekend. So some of the questions 89 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.199 and answers are super rapid fire. But then we had 90 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.800 such a jolly time hanging out that afterwards he offered 91 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.319 to give me a tour of the egg bunker, and 92 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.600 hell yes, I took him up on that. So throughout 93 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.600 the interview there are audio notes from that tour as 94 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:14.319 we continued to just gab in the stacks. So this 95 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:18.439 episode is just a feast of facts about speckley eggs 96 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:23.439 and outlaw burders and falcon mysteries and vaults of delicate 97 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:27.519 treasures and can you eat cookie dough? And modern research 98 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.519 done with old artifacts. And there's some Easter bullshit and 99 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:35.360 chicken hatching, even snake trivia. It's got it all. So 100 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:38.959 buckle up, all right, let's settle our feathers and ready 101 00:05:39.000 --> 00:06:04.160 ourselves for the ornithological Treasures of boologists Doctor John Bates. Hi, 102 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.759 I'm Ali Warren. Hi, nice to meet you. Thank you 103 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:09.720 for talking about eggs with me. Are you technically an oologist? 104 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:10.759 No? I am not? 105 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:15.639 What not an oologist? He literally edited the book of eggs. 106 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.680 It's called the Book of Eggs and his name is 107 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:24.800 on the cover. Like not an oologist. He studies bird eggs. Okay, 108 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.639 I gotta breathe that. Okay, more on this situation a minute. 109 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:32.720 But he is definitely an evolutionary biologist slash ornithologist and 110 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.839 officially an associated curator of birds and head of the 111 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:40.600 Life Sciences Division at the Field Museum in Chicago. Or 112 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.959 what do you study about birds? Do you study particular 113 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.319 like eggs of different species, feathers, beaks, like, what's your bag? 114 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:49.839 Well, I'm a curator and so we have one of 115 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:53.839 the world's greatest collections of birds here in the museum, 116 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:56.480 and so one of the things I've been interested in 117 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.839 over the years is all aspects of av and biology. 118 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:03.439 But the egg part actually came about because we have 119 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:06.120 an egg collection and I feel like it's my responsibility 120 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:07.759 to know something about eggs. 121 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:10.759 So after the interview at his desk. John took me 122 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.240 down this labyrinth into the bowels of the museum, just 123 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:19.279 stuffed with millions of scientific artifacts, like for real, actually 124 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.959 millions of artifacts. What you see on displays at museums 125 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:28.399 is this laughably small representation of their actual shit they 126 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:32.120 have in files and drawers and boxes behind the scenes. 127 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:35.759 So behind these scenes we came upon a room labeled 128 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:43.079 egg Collection, to which John had the keys. Wow, what 129 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:45.920 this looks like a like a bank bunker. 130 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.800 They really look like they do. 131 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:50.879 Yeah, oh my god. 132 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:52.399 So how many specimen in. 133 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:56.519 This from so probably about one hundred thousand eggs. 134 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.639 But now, why do you say you're not an oologist 135 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:03.160 even though you study bird eggs? 136 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.120 Yeah, that's because basically, I don't know if you could 137 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.160 find anybody who had described themselves as an oologist anymore. 138 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.279 It's a field that's it's an extinctology at some level, 139 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:15.360 which is too bad. That's actually one of the things 140 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.240 that we're interested in, some colleagues and I are interested in. 141 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:20.360 We're actually working on a paper right now trying to 142 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.519 encourage people to remember, and that is that there's these 143 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:28.319 incredible collections of eggs around the world, and a lot 144 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.720 of times they're pretty underutilized. People tend to forget they're there. 145 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:37.879 So oology was really popular in the eighteen eighties into 146 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.840 the nineteen twenties or so, and then it died out. 147 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.080 And some of that was because people were a little 148 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.360 bit concerned that there might be issues with respect to 149 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.960 collecting eggs in terms of the population biology affecting the 150 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.480 population biology of birds and things, and so it was 151 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:54.039 kind of fell out of favor with a lot of people. 152 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:59.080 So, okay, so oology can mean the study of eggs, 153 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.360 but it can also refer to the hobby of collecting 154 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:06.759 wild bird eggs, also called egg in Now, at some 155 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:12.519 point these amateur egg scholars stopped egging because it became illegal. 156 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:17.639 People were like, well, you are stealing babies now, Wikipedia says, 157 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:21.039 and I quote despite this, some of those who engage 158 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:25.240 in egg collecting show considerable recidivism. That is legal speak 159 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.480 for doing bad shit again like chasing the dragon egg. 160 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:34.440 Wikipedia continues. One Colin Watson was convicted six times before 161 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.279 he fell to his death in two thousand and six 162 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.879 while attempting to climb to a nest high up in 163 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.639 a tree. Another individual has been convicted nine times and 164 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:48.799 imprisoned twice, and a third has been convicted fifty one times, 165 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.720 imprisoned four times and barred from entering Scotland during the 166 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.600 breeding season. People are addicted to egg collecting. Also, One 167 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:03.200 historical amateur ornithologist, Charles Bendyer, who stash of eight thousand 168 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:07.360 formed the base of the Smithsonian's egg collection, climbed a 169 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:12.000 tree for some hobbyist egg thievery and was, rightfully, if 170 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:15.559 you ask me, shot at and scared away, but escaped 171 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:19.159 climbing down the tree with a raptor egg in his mouth. 172 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.480 And the egg was so big that he had to 173 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:25.519 and was willing to rather have his teeth broken to 174 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.960 get it out of his mouth at like a cloach 175 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.440 of face. So these were the oologists of your Perhaps 176 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:34.039 that's why the term fell out of favor. 177 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.879 But then the other thing that happened was you had 178 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.759 the advent of things like cameras, and suddenly you know, 179 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:41.879 people you could make an argument that you didn't need 180 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.480 the specimen per se if you could take a picture 181 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:45.279 of the eggs. 182 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:48.679 So do you think that if you're not out actively 183 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:51.320 collecting and studying eggs, then you're not an oologist? 184 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.240 Well, I think so I like to describe it actually 185 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.440 as an interesting way, I think from the perspective of humans, 186 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:02.080 which is that in some level it's like pediatrics. Right, 187 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:06.080 So here's this field where people study children, and this 188 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.720 is a field where people studied eggs. But it's a 189 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:12.679 specialization within pediatrics, right, a specific thing. And I think 190 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:17.120 that in part it was just because collecting eggs kind 191 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:21.639 of literally fell out of favor, and so the termoology 192 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:23.840 actually fell by the wayside. At some point. 193 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:25.480 I think it's time to resurrect it. 194 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.080 I mean, that's actually I mean there's a lot of 195 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:30.480 science that can be done with eggs. 196 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.080 Yeah, So tell me about the collection you have, and 197 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:35.559 what do you like about eggs, because I feel like 198 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.240 you have to be into them in order to study them. 199 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:43.000 I think aptitude is backed by passion, I'm guessing. So 200 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.120 what is it about birds and bird eggs that you 201 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.279 that you love or that you're drawn to? 202 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.080 So what I'd say, I think it's interesting to say. 203 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.320 I mean, eggs themselves are just beautiful things in nature, 204 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:00.320 for one thing, But when you look at these collections, 205 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:04.759 you start realizing that they're incredibly valuable pieces of our 206 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.559 understanding of early natural history. So one of the things 207 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.639 I always like to say to people is that, you know, 208 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.159 you go back to our collections of bird specimens from 209 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:13.679 the eighteen eighties a lot of times and they have 210 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.159 very little information on them. But with the egg collections, 211 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.120 it's very common for them to have these detailed nest 212 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.399 cards which describe exactly when the person found the nest, 213 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:25.960 how many eggs were in it, what kind of tree 214 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.919 it was in, very detailed locality information, and so these 215 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:35.639 guys were actually collecting really excellent natural history data, probably 216 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.840 tend to twenty to thirty years more earlier than a 217 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.480 lot of the specimen collectors were, so it's a very 218 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:43.480 incredible data. As a matter of fact, one of the 219 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.480 things we're trying to do right now is work on 220 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.039 various projects where we can use these data to look 221 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:51.159 at what's going on today. 222 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.320 So it's kind of like the thank you for the 223 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:58.600 nest plundering. Back then you monocled dere liks, But yeah, no, 224 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:01.159 we don't do that now. That's out a pastime. Let's 225 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:04.080 just play video games or scroll through pictures of other 226 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:07.799 people's vacations on a tiny screen. But the dates in 227 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.000 all of those amateur egg collections are very helpful. 228 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.279 So, for instance, we can look at nest laying dates 229 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.879 for birds in the Midwest and ask the question if 230 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.919 we have data from modern birds on when they were 231 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.320 at laying and this is based on field observations from 232 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.799 some of my colleagues. We can look at individual species 233 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.200 and ask the question, our bird populations in the Chicago 234 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:34.360 region laying their eggs at different times than they were historically, 235 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:38.799 and it looks like there's the dates of laying have 236 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.799 advanced actually, which is consistent with some of the potential 237 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:44.320 issues that you'd expect due. 238 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:45.360 To climate change. 239 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:48.799 So climate change is a biggie, as are the effects 240 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:53.639 of pesticides and pollutants. So one huge detective story is 241 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.320 often cited when the topic of vintage eggs comes up. 242 00:13:57.799 --> 00:13:59.120 You know, when I show this to people and I 243 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:00.960 talk about why we have these collections. One of my 244 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:07.600 favorite examples is, you know, paragon falcon eggs. So these 245 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:16.600 were collected in the eighteen nineties in North Dakota. Wow, 246 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:21.120 and paragon falcons in the nineteen sixties, along with ospreys 247 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.360 and bald eagles, had their populations plummeted, and paragon falcons 248 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:29.080 actually went extinct in eastern North America, and what was 249 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.399 going on is they weren't having any reproductive success. And 250 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.320 it was because every time females laid eggs, they would 251 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.639 start sitting on them to incubate them, they would crack, 252 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.799 and scientists thought that this pesticide DDT was causing the 253 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:43.600 egg shell thinning. And one of the big pieces of 254 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.159 evidence that led them to ban DDT in the US 255 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:48.799 was a study by these guys named Hicky and Anderson 256 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.279 where they went in and they measured pre d d 257 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:56.600 tira egg shell thickness in these birds with post egg 258 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:01.080 shell post nineteen sixty during the DTI use, and they 259 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:02.960 were able to show that they were demonstrably s thinner 260 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.080 and a bunch of the key areas. And so it 261 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:07.600 was a great scientific design that was possible because they 262 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.240 had access to these collections. Yeah, and what I always 263 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:12.000 like to point out is that you know, this guy 264 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:15.679 that collected these things, this guy foresight in nineteen seventeen, 265 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.799 had no idea that forty fifty years later his eggs 266 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:20.399 would be used for a study like that. 267 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.720 And so so it's so cool to see current research 268 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:24.600 being done on specimens that have been collected one hundred 269 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.200 years exactly. So just think some of the science that 270 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:31.440 you do today might help future generations to study, like 271 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:35.440 which plants existed before the robots that we download our 272 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:37.919 consciousness into took over the earth and mined all the 273 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.759 gold to make toilets and then darken the sky with 274 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.720 clean coal emissions? Is that too dark? Sorry? When they 275 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.200 would collect the eggs, would they blow the eggs out 276 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.320 or would they just rot? What was happening? Would they 277 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.639 hollow Okay, they'd hollow them out? 278 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.759 Yeah? So yeah, right, so I yes, they would put 279 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:55.519 roll a little hole in them, and it was a 280 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:57.759 real art. I mean they were really good at it, 281 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.399 and they would carefully inject a little bit of air 282 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:02.320 and once you do that, you can blow the contents 283 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:04.759 out of a very small hole and you're left with 284 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:05.519 the egg shell. 285 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.639 Can you explain to me how an egg is formed? 286 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:10.200 Because it is kind of odd to be like, Hi, 287 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:12.639 I'm a bird, I'm soft, a fluffy, and then boink, 288 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:15.159 there's this hard thing that comes out of your cloaca. 289 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:16.519 What is it? 290 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:16.919 Yeah? 291 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:24.440 Basically, the female has this developing ovum and her oviduct 292 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.600 and it goes down and there's a glands that produce 293 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:31.559 the the shell material, and it gradually rotates and forms, 294 00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:36.799 and you get the production of this perfectly layered, hard 295 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:43.360 and yet thin thing covering that developing embryo in an 296 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.799 incredible way. That and then there are all kinds of 297 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.360 interesting things that happen after that with respect to making 298 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.960 the eggs colorful or spotted or things like that. 299 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:52.600 Yeah. 300 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.519 So is it like layers on a jawbreaker, like layer 301 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.159 after layer of like this calcium or is it like 302 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.639 one layer of shell that happens at once. 303 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.599 Yeah, No, it's my understanding of it is it's a 304 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.160 layer thing, and they actually is there going down the 305 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.960 oviduct the shell gland is actually putting it, layingering on 306 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:15.079 that material so that when it comes out it's it's 307 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:16.960 a perfectly formed egg. 308 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.400 And then where is the air brushing station in the oviduct? 309 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.440 Like where are they putting on the speckles? And like 310 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:24.279 the robin egg blue colors. 311 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.119 It's done in the as it's passing along through the 312 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:32.000 kloaca and in the overduct. And there are these melonin 313 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.160 producing glands that are cells that will actually make the color. 314 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.519 But that's something that actually some of the aspects of 315 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.920 that are still debated by scientists. We don't know how 316 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.640 some colors on certain types of eggs are made. 317 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.160 And I understand, Like, okay, so we're surrounded by these 318 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:51.079 beautiful posters of eggs and I understand eggs. It looks 319 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:54.119 like granite boom. Is it an egg or a rock? 320 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.559 I don't know. I can't tell. I'm not going to 321 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.119 eat it. I get it. But like a bright blue 322 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:01.519 robin's egg in a green tree, what's happening there that 323 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:02.720 seems so conspicuous? 324 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.720 Yeah, so quick answer, We don't know, okay, right, but 325 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.000 there are these eggs. If I showed you eggs of Tinamus, 326 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:15.240 which are these neotropical birds that a bunch of species, 327 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:17.480 they look like little chickens that run around in either 328 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.880 forest or an open country, and they lay these incredibly 329 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.079 enameled eggs that can be anywhere from blue to brown 330 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:30.000 to green, and they're just just incredibly enameled. And we 331 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:30.920 don't know why they do that. 332 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:31.400 Wow. 333 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.200 And one hypothesis, which is kind of crazy, would be 334 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.680 just they wanted to look so weird that no predator 335 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:39.359 would look at that and go, yeah, that's something we 336 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:39.839 should eat. 337 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.480 And they wanted to look like a weird toy or 338 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.119 a piece of ceramic or something like that. 339 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.240 Yeah, because I mean they literally don't look like anything 340 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.160 you would find in nature. 341 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.519 So down in the vault, John showed me another egg 342 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.200 that look like a prop Like, no way did a 343 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.240 bird button make this? Oh my god, are you kidding me? 344 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.640 These common muror nests eggs, so this cliff Nester, and 345 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.440 you can see these are from Ireland, and then they 346 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.400 would have been laid by different females such that the 347 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:11.799 female could actually individually recognize each egg. And you can 348 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.000 see these things like all these little squiggles come from 349 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:18.960 the egg twisting as it's coming down the Wow, the 350 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:20.720 overduct and it looks like. 351 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:22.519 You just took a sharpie or a marker. 352 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:24.079 Yeah, to them, it looks. 353 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.119 Like you you let your like four year old nephew 354 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.119 color them in, you know what I mean, But like 355 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.359 or Jackson Pollock. Oh my god, they're gorgeous. 356 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:33.599 Though. 357 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.359 You can see this one sat for a while and. 358 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:37.319 Oh inside of the. 359 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:41.960 Oviducts, yeah, inside the overduct and so it gets. 360 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:44.759 It gets more of that speckl right exactly familiar. Oh, 361 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.519 from those cells. That's so I never knew that's how 362 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.720 it happened. I mean, that's so crazy to think of 363 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:53.160 it twisting and turning and making those marks. So just 364 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.759 squiggling down the bird butt canal getting a streaky paint 365 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:01.759 job on the way, it's so delicately magic, gross and beautiful. 366 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.400 And what about egg shape? Why are they the shape 367 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:05.839 that they are? 368 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.960 So that's an interesting question that's been studied and published 369 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.319 on fairly recently and not one of the hypotheses is 370 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.240 that it's related to body shape at some point. Eggs 371 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:20.559 a lot. I mean, eggs have a fairly defined shape 372 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:23.319 for the most part, but they're really interesting aspects of 373 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.279 certain eggs. So for instance, eggs of some of the 374 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:30.920 birds that breed on cliffs, like common mirrors and things, 375 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.839 are these long pointed have a thick base and then 376 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.680 a long pointed tip. And one of the hypotheses has 377 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:40.240 been that they've evolved that way because they're on a 378 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.039 cliff face. And if you roll that egg on a 379 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.279 cliff face, it'll just roll in a tight little circle 380 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:46.960 because of its shape. Now, some other people have come 381 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:48.839 along and said, now that's not what's going on, but 382 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.960 that's a plausible explanation for that egg shape. 383 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:55.920 And do you eat eggs. I do eat eggs, okay, 384 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:58.240 So you're not like you don't have a situation where 385 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:01.519 you're like, oh, I can't do it right? No, is 386 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:03.599 it bad for us to eat chicken eggs? 387 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:07.880 So I always like to say that. My pediatrician used 388 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:10.200 to flip back and forth. Every year I went to him, 389 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.079 Oh really, my mom crazy, Like he would come in 390 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.519 and say eggs are good for your son. Good, Nope, 391 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:17.839 next year, eggs are bad for you. 392 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.000 So side note, I was like, yeah, what's up with 393 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:23.599 eggs having this like big reputation. So in nineteen sixty eight, 394 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:27.400 the American Heart Association advised people not to have more 395 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:31.599 than three egg yolks per week. It's like eggs are canceled. 396 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:34.680 Unfollow eggs on Twitter, do not invite them to breakfast. 397 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.200 And then years later some news came out that was like, nah, 398 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.359 eggs are fine. And then in the last few years, 399 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:45.440 this new cholesterol kills campaign came out and that's done 400 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:50.559 by an organization called the Truth About Eggs. But that 401 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.200