Ain't Love Grand!

The natural world is filled with diverse-not to mention quirky and odd-animal behaviors. Consider the male praying mantis that continues to mate after being beheaded; the insects, insects, and birds that offer gifts of food in return for sex; the male hip-pocket frog that carries his own tadpoles; the baby spiders that dine on their mother; or the starfish that sheds an arm or two to escape a predator's grasp. In Ain't Love Grand, Marty Crump-a tropical field biologist well known for her work with the reproductive behavior of amphibians-examines the bizarre conduct of animals as they mate, parent, feed, defend themselves, and communicate. More importantly, Crump points out that diverse and unrelated animals often share seemingly erratic behaviors-evidence, Crump argues, that these natural histories, though outwardly weird, are actually successful ways of living.