Here's the Clif Notes version of it:
Komodo dragon eggs hatched recently at the Wichita Zoo.
This, in and of itself, does not necessarily make news (although it is good news for the species).
What does make news is that Mama Komodo Dragon managed to hatch offspring, despite the fact that no male species has been in close proximity to her during the past ten years.
Apparently some animals have the ability to store sperm for long periods of times, so that they can withstand dangerous reproduction conditions. So, that could have been the case with Mama Dragon.
However, some crafty British lizards managed to single-handedly reproduce genetic clones of themselves two years ago. So they didn't just close out the inventory of their internal sperm storage site, but they actually pulled the whole reproductive maneuver off entirely on their own. So, its quite possible that these Baby Dragons are also genetic clones of their mother.
These virgin births aren't a totally random event in nature. Turns out a female hammerhead shark reproduced without a male partner last year in the Wichita Zoo as well.
(How did I not hear about these zoological mysteries before? Have I been living under a rock?)
These phenomena beg the question: why do species even have the male gender? As Neil Shubin explains in his article, a world full of clones would not offer enough variation for the populations to adapt. While cloning is a good stop-gap to ensure the survival of a species, it is not a decent long-term solution.
Wow. Animals are clever. But those aren't their only party tricks: Some reptiles rely on temperatures, not genetics, to determine the development of gender. Some can actually switch gender during their lifetimes or based on behavioral group dynamics. This all totally blows my mind.
All of this leads up to the striking point that Shubin makes in his closing paragraph:
"Judging from Komodo dragons, lizards and sharks, the answer seems to be that for reproduction, almost anything goes. And that is the point. Biology is about variation. Without variation, the world would be static and unchangeable, and species would gradually disappear as they failed to meet challenges like changing climates and environments. So as we continue our very necessary debates over ethical issues, let's bear in mind that morality is a concept limited to our species. The natural world is a fuzzy place that doesn't always accommodate our decidedly human need to find cut-and-dried categories."
Somehow, in some very non-linear way, these examples of biological variation in the natural world reminds me of the need for agility in the business world, across the board. For example, how are we training folks to be adaptable when otherwise normal processes deviate? How do we help develop talent so that they can manage unexpected challenges? Or how can we better learn to live more comfortably with the fact that our businesses are naturally messy? Or how can we nurture teams so that they may creatively problem solve in ways that are as innovativ as, say, the Komodo dragon?
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