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Fact: John Edmonstone was one of the few and most influential black taxidermists in history.
Written by Divya Anantharaman
Born in Guyana, then a British colony, in 1790, he began life as a slave on a timber plantation owned by Charles Edmonstone. Not much is recorded about his early life, but we do know when he met the naturalist Charles Waterton, a friend of Charles Edmonstone and later his stepfather. Masu. In 1812, Waterton was visiting the city to collect and study birds from the jungles of Guyana. This was a huge undertaking, as over 700 species have been identified. There, as a skilled and eccentric taxidermist (https://wakefieldmuseumsandlibraries.blogspot.com/2014/03/charles-watertons-creations-museumweek_25.html), he taught John Edmonstone the science and technology of taxidermy. Ta.
In 1817 Charles Edmundston returned to Scotland and was accompanied by John. We do not know if he was already freed before his arrival, but due to changes in the law at the time, he would have been automatically freed once he entered Scotland. By 1824, John Edmonstone had settled in Edinburgh and he began working at the Zoological Museum at the University of Edinburgh. At the time, taxidermy was a lucrative business both scientifically and culturally, so John's skills were in high demand. He also taught taxidermy classes to students at nearby Edinburgh University. One of these students was 16-year-old Charles Darwin. He started taxidermy classes to distract himself a bit from the discomfort of his medical studies, but soon found that it fostered his love of nature. Five years later, Darwin joined the Beagle as the ship's naturalist. Thanks to Edmundston's teachings, he developed techniques for preserving specimens and provided flesh evidence to help prove his theory of evolution.
John Edmundstone lived an amazing life and reminds us that history is very much dependent on who preserves it. Most of what we know about him comes from Darwin's diary and biographical anecdotes. Many people know the name Darwin, but I wish more people knew the name Edmundstone.
Fact: Chimpanzees have menopause
Rachel Feltman
Like having hair on the top of your head or participating in capitalism, menopause is one of the more unusual human traits. So far, he is one of only four other species known to live far beyond their reproductive potential. All animals other than us are mammals and live in the ocean, including beluga whales, narwhals, killer whales, and short-finned pilot whales.
However, a new study has found evidence of a “change” in the sixth species. And, of course, it's an animal very close to us on the evolutionary tree: chimpanzees.
Like most mammals, female chimpanzees have long been thought to die after a few years after their fertility declines. But after observing Uganda's Ngogo chimpanzee community for 21 years, researchers found something different. This social group is the largest chimpanzee community ever reported. Their habitat is protected and they are quite accustomed to human observers, making them the best source of long-term data on chimpanzee ecology and behavior.
After the researchers noticed anecdotally that some very old female chimpanzees were wandering around, they decided to track the mortality and reproductive performance of the 185 females as best they could. They found that animals' fertility declines after the age of 30, and that no animals gave birth beyond the age of 50. However, 16 of the females observed lived to be over 50 years old. On average, about 20 percent of a female chimpanzee's adulthood occurred after her reproductive abilities had waned. Away. This is about half the length of a human hunter-gatherer.
Analysis of urine samples from dozens of chimpanzees revealed that females experience hormonal changes similar to those experienced during menopause in humans.
Perhaps because of their luxurious circumstances, Ngogo chimpanzees live unusually long lives, and may be the only chimpanzees to experience this. However, this hypothesis has a dark side. Perhaps menopause was common in chimpanzees even before humans began destroying primate lifespans with deforestation, disease spread, and poaching.
Listen to this week's episode to learn more about what this means for our evolutionary understanding of menopause!
Fact: In the 1600s, a town in the Netherlands was literally preying on the rich.
Written by Sarah Kiley Watson
Today, the Netherlands is known as the land of bicycle lovers and delicious desserts. But in her 1600s, it wasn't about cooking stroopwafels or poffertjes, it was about political disaster. It turns out that the leader of one of Europe's democracies at the time was on the menu for a short time…literally. In the heart of The Hague, now known as the International City of Peace and Justice, an Orangist militia murdered and cannibalized a large pensioner. There's nothing more vulgar than a good Dutch drama.
