Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth

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Every animal on the planet owes its existence to one crucial piece of evolutionary engineering: the egg. It's time to tell a new story of life on Earth. If you think of an egg, what do you envision? A chicken egg, frogspawn, a human egg cell, or the striking blue eggs of a blackbird? Each egg represents survival, yet the evolution of the animal egg is often overlooked in narratives about life's development. Without this universal biological phenomenon, animals, including humans, could not have evolved and thrived. Zoology correspondent Jules Howard takes readers on a captivating journey from the Cambrian Period's coastlines to the end of the dinosaur era, highlighting the rise of live-birthing mammals. Eggs evolved from the sea and adapted to various environments, from soils and sands to nests in trees. They were dropped in silk-wrapped nests or secured by placentas. Regardless of whether they belong to birds, insects, mammals, or millipedes, animal eggs have been shaped by their ecology, influenced by mass extinctions, and refined by natural selection. This narrative finally sheds light on their epic role in the tapestry of life.