Supergenes and Superpowers

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. ~ Colossians 3:14-15

On a cold January bird trip thirty years ago, we made a detour to Rick’s feeder in search of a lifer for most of us. This was the home of a noted local birder who reported that in the midst of the flock of Common Redpolls in the area, there was one that was different, a Hoary Redpoll. I remember how we struggled to pick it out, with some debate even after finding it. That is because the physical differences are subtle and few. They are a tad larger, a bit paler, and have a smaller bill. This bird fit the bill, the field guide told us it was a different species, and we all agreed on the identification, perhaps not enough to convince any of us to eat a mushroom, but enough for a bird life list.

As you might guess, the voracious curiosity of the ornithologists is about to ruin our fun, the two species are indeed one. While there is debate about what makes a species, the most common definition is that if two organisms fail to breed and produce fertile offspring, they are considered two separate species. For instance, horses and donkeys are different species which can produce a mule, but mules can’t reproduce. Given that Redpolls are so hard to separate visually and the fact that a decent number of bird species hybridize with other species, this was never going to be a convincing way of separating the species. What was needed was genetic analysis. Recent improvements in gene sequencing technology allowed researchers to find the minuscule cause for the differences. All of the birds in the study shared the same genetic makeup except for one tiny section of a single chromosome that don’t change with DNA recombination, they only invert: one direction and the bird looks like a Hoary and the other not. The rest of the genome acts normally, so this newfound supergene is a feature of this species.

This saga speaks to the celebration of diversity. Those adorable birds have far more in common than the distinction caused by the coin-flip inversion of a single supergene. Lumping the species will result in less scrutiny of Redpolls when they show up, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Close observation will result in noticing other subtle differences that make individuals unique. That can be said of all of us. Even the divisions that result from observing differences don’t need to have a negative impact. When differences divide birds into species, that is reason for celebration. We may struggle to see what makes one individual more-than-human creature different from their neighbor, but surely we can enjoy the variety of gifts we see in our human kin when we take the time to observe. We might even discover ours and others’ superpowers!

Prayer: Endlessly Creative Creator, grant us the joyful curiosity to see diversity instead of division. Amen.