Some may have already heard about the recent shark-parthogenesis event (A shark reproduced without male fertilization of their eggs). It isn't, by far, the first incidence of a sexually-reproducing species being found to be able to reproduce asexually through parthenogenesis.
Anyone who read my last rant, on the increase of UV radiation increasing the rate of mutation in many species, might see the problem here. This form of asexual reproduction means little to no genetic variation. It has been speculated that this ability to reproduce without a male allows a shark, and other species with this ability, to carry on it's genetic lineage in the midst of a lack of sexual counterparts... in other words, with no way to contribute new combinations of genes to increase the variety in the gene pool, the shark may "opt" (biologically speaking) to simply hold out (genetically) until a mate is available to merge genes with.
From the short list of species known to be able to perform such feats, it seems to me that this is available to species that haven't changed much in millions of years. This could have been an ability picked up to survive ice ages and other mass extinction events. Regaurdless, it proves that A) genetic variation isn't neccesarily the only factor in the survival of a species... sometimes it's a mechanism that works AGAINST genetic variation that can help a species survive... and B) That this very survival mechanism may hinder a species ability to change and evolve.
I won't even begin to speculate that this could have important applications for the human race. It's just a fascinating look into the inner workings of the genetic lineage of life itself on earth.
It seems so logical... so rational... so mechanical... that a species can put it's genes in queue to await processing. Each species seems almost like a different module in an overall program that is earth's genetic pool program. What species will be "printed out" as the final product?
On a completely stupid note, it brings to mind my old ponderings that all of life may exist as a precursor to god... each generation becoming more and more advanced til finally, the last organism is born who is god... in the throws of the universe's destruction... and left in the void of nothingness, he recreates the world anew, exhausting himself to death, but birthing a universe that will complete the cycle anew. It's just mind numbing entertainment to think such whimsical thoughts...