Happy 212th birthday Charles Darwin! 🎉 Today, we’re celebrating by shining a spotlight on John Edmonstone—the man who taught Darwin taxidermy.

Born enslaved in now-Guyana, Edmonstone learned taxidermy from famed naturalist Charles Waterton, a neighboring plantation owner. In the hot tropics, Edmonstone learned to preserve birds fast before they decomposed. 🐦 A freed Edmonstone later moved to Edinburgh and opened his own business. In the 1820s, he taught teenage Darwin taxide...rmy—a skill Darwin used to preserve his famous Galapagos finches.