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Scientists believe they why birds' eggs are different shapes. Some eggs are quite round; some kind of potato-shaped; and others are longer and pointy. Two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle flatter eggs had female chicks inside them and rounder eggs male chicks. But he was wrong. A new study from Princeton University in the USA that the shape of the egg on how well and how fast the female bird . Professor Mary Stoddard said: "It has not unnoticed that birds have to [lay eggs with] shapes that quite diverse in form - everything from a spherical owl egg to a pointy sandpiper egg."

Professor Stoddard and her colleagues a mathematical formula to the shape of different eggs. They at almost 50,000 eggs from 1,400 different bird species. The researchers the shape, length and height of the eggs into a computer database. They also at how oval the eggs . The researchers that the birds that the most-oval-shaped eggs were the best fliers. Professor Stoddard said: "We were shocked to see that one of the best explanations for egg shape variation flight ability." The researchers that hummingbirds and sandpipers laid the most-oval-shaped eggs; owls laid the roundest eggs; and sea birds laid the pointiest eggs.