Back to Show
Deep Look
Here’s Why Humans Can’t Lay Eggs
Season 12
Episode 20
Why do most animals lay eggs, while humans and most mammals give birth to live young? In this episode of Big Ideas from the team behind Deep Look, host Niba explores how eggs first evolved, how they helped animals conquer life on land, and why most mammals eventually shifted from laying eggs to growing babies inside their bodies.
Support Provided By
3:57
These voracious predators cruise belly up below the surface of a pond or gentle stream.
4:55
Barn owls turn mice, gophers and voles into balls of fur and bones known as pellets.
4:02
It’s called nectar robbing: Bees get nectar, but don’t pollinate the plants in exchange.
3:49
Giant water bugs pack one of the most painful bites of any insect, but they're great dads.
4:33
The spotted wing drosophila may look like a common fruit fly, but it’s so much worse.
5:13
Those precious silk garments in your closet were made by the caterpillars of a fuzzy moth.
3:58
Barnacles might look like jagged little rocks, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life.
4:36
Honeypot ants stuff members of their own colony until they look like tiny water balloons.
4:25
What animal sprays acid that reeks of vinegar from its rear end? A vinegaroon, of course.
4:31
The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat — on purpose.
5:12
Subterranean termites fly off in swarms, and then drop their wings to start new colonies.
4:59
A twig is actually just one of many disguises for the Australian walking stick insect.