The age of an egg is typically unable to be definitively determined, unlike the ago of the majority of other fossilized animal remains. The study and classification of eggs is a science known as oology. If eggs are left with their inner contents untouched, they will usually eventually rot, which may make it more difficult to figure out egg age. Eggs can be preserved by poking tiny holes into the shells and extracting the insides, and in some cases the eggs will fossilize. Even if fossilized eggs are found, it is difficult for scientists to study their insides closely enough to determine age. CAT scans or soaking the fossils in mild acid may be used to view the insides, but generally age is only hypothesized by comparing eggs to other remains found near them.
More about eggs:
- Collecting wild eggs was first officially made illegal in the United States in 1918, followed by the United Kingdom in 1954, and is generally not permitted throughout the world.
- Bird eggs are more likely to be speckled if they were laid on the ground, as opposed to a nest in a tree.
- Papaya extract is often injected into eggs to dissolve the inner contents, which can take up to three weeks.