The Great British naturalist Charles Darwin is considered by many, including the origin of animals, animal behavior. and also how animals tasted. Whilst he was a student at the University,

and also how animals tasted.

Whilst he was a student at the University, animals tasted.

Whilst he was a student at the University of Cambridge, Darwin was a member of a group called the Glutton Club,

which met weekly, specifically, to feast on strange flesh. The students tried everything from hawks

to brown owls, although the latter they found quite disgusting. Nevertheless, Darwin's

taste for the odd continued into his adult years, and during his voyages

aboard the Royal Navy's H.M. Beagle, he tried a number of exotic animals that today

would leave many a naturalist gobbsmacked, armadillo, puma, and even giant tortoise,

which apparently had a buttery taste.

With at least three species having been driven to extinction, today the giant tortoises of the Galapagos are protected.

And eating them certainly isn't allowed.

Darwin was also a great collector of beetles,

and I have no doubt that he tasted his fair share.

But he eventually got his come-upence as he wrote to a friend of his experience of trying

to hold a bombardier beetle between his teeth while reaching for another specimen in the field.

Suddenly a stream of acid was fired into the back of his mouth, upon which he quickly spat out

the little inconsiderate beast. But guess what? That fiery spray could come in

very handy for 21st century technology and help us improve existing and develop

new highly efficient fuel injection systems in the future. Hello I'm Patrick I and welcome to 30 animals that made us smarter from the BBC

World Service the podcast which investigates the amazing things that animals have taught us.

Thanks for all your comments about the series. We love to hear from you. And thanks so much for all your biomimicry ideas. We've chosen some of them for a special live show which will be our final episode of the season which we recorded

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