Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Chicken or Junglefowl? (Answer at the bottom)

Ah, the age old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? I never quite understood why people even bothered with such a question, I mean it's obviously the chicken...right? And why the chicken and egg? why not plant vs. seed, or fungus vs. spore, or even bacteria vs. endospore? Ok, maybe I'm a nerd that looks into things too much. While no one knows for sure, I'm going to attempt to debunk this question and maybe teach you, the readers, a thing or two about chickens and eggs.

First, we will start with the egg. Now, the egg is not something that is exclusive to the chicken. This is something I always called as a technicality and beat the argument. Eggs are also found in reptiles and amphibians, and I'm pretty sure pterodactyl eggs were around long before chickens were even domesticated. Eggs are also found in other birds, which have been around much longer than domesticated birds, like chickens. I think you know where I am going with this argument. Eggs were eaten in ancient Egypt, but they weren't chicken eggs, rather they ate pelican, ostrich, and quail. It wasn't until 1500 B.C. that chickens were introduced and cultivated, before that time, quail were the primary domestic egg source for the civilization.

So, before we can tackle the question of what came first, we must first examine where the chicken (or it's eggs) came from. The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). The chicken is actually a descendant of this Asian jungle bird, found naturally in China and Malaysia. The chicken was domesticated in China around 6000 B.C. and in India around 2,000 B.C. Originally, these were bred for cockfighting, but I guess they found out they were pretty tasty being cooked. From there, they were bred for their plumage, meat production, and their egg production. Chicken is one of the cheapest animal protein sources available, which feeds millions of people daily.

While the egg may have arrived well before the chicken was a major food source, both are an important food source for civilizations now and then. Without these major staples, not only would we not have this eternally confusing question, along with omelettes, deviled eggs, chicken salad, fried chicken, and hundreds of other dishes.

Answer: Red Junglefowl

Now, the question to you: what is your favorite chicken/egg dish?