Marty Crump is a behavioral ecologist who has worked with tropical amphibians in the areas of parental care, reproduction, territoriality, cannibalism, and tadpole ecology. An adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, she is the author of In Search of the Golden Frog and Headless Males Make Great Lovers, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

"Marty Crump's book is a trawl through the whole gamut of weird animal behaviours. Watch out for spine-anointing, toad-chewing hedgehogs; tortoises that stomp the ground to draw up worms; and the mantids of the title that mate more effectively once the female has bitten off their heads. With Crump's thirty-plus years of experience in the field, this beautifully written and charmingly illustrated book combines acute observation with helpful explanation. Nature has never seemed so bizarre and splendid." - Adrian Barnett, New Scientist"

Marty Crump is a behavioral ecologist who has worked with tropical amphibians in the areas of parental care, reproduction, territoriality, cannibalism, and tadpole ecology. An adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, she is the author of In Search of the Golden Frog and Headless Males Make Great Lovers, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

"Marty Crump's book is a trawl through the whole gamut of weird animal behaviours. Watch out for spine-anointing, toad-chewing hedgehogs; tortoises that stomp the ground to draw up worms; and the mantids of the title that mate more effectively once the female has bitten off their heads. With Crump's thirty-plus years of experience in the field, this beautifully written and charmingly illustrated book combines acute observation with helpful explanation. Nature has never seemed so bizarre and splendid." - Adrian Barnett, New Scientist"

Marty Crump is a behavioral ecologist who has worked with tropical amphibians in the areas of parental care, reproduction, territoriality, cannibalism, and tadpole ecology. An adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, she is the author of In Search of the Golden Frog and Headless Males Make Great Lovers, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

"Marty Crump's book is a trawl through the whole gamut of weird animal behaviours. Watch out for spine-anointing, toad-chewing hedgehogs; tortoises that stomp the ground to draw up worms; and the mantids of the title that mate more effectively once the female has bitten off their heads. With Crump's thirty-plus years of experience in the field, this beautifully written and charmingly illustrated book combines acute observation with helpful explanation. Nature has never seemed so bizarre and splendid." - Adrian Barnett, New Scientist"