Hidden Creatures

"Astonishing, eye-opening, and inspiring." —Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare

Welcome to the hidden, squirming world of parasites—some of the most misunderstood creatures with whom we share the Earth (and our bodies).

There is the tapeworm, which can grow 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale; the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its needle-like mouth; and the most universal symbol of parasitic behavior: the leech. Long villainized as, well, parasitic, these creatures are actually a vital part of every ecosystem—and Dr. Dino Martins, an award-winning entomologist and biologist from Kenya, has made it his life’s mission to demystify these beguiling beings.

Hidden Creatures is a journey around the world ten times over—from Martins’ home in the wilds of East Africa, to the rainforests of the Amazon, to cities and backyards across the globe—and along the way, we encounter the brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures to investigate not only parasites but their hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, humans. Immersive, driven by an utterly infectious curiosity, and sure to transform every reader’s understanding of these organisms, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and introduces a monumental, charismatic new voice in science writing."An astonishing, eye-opening, and inspiring guide to the world's microscopic marvels, showing how much we can learn from looking closely at the things we fear, and the beauty of nature's hidden mechanisms. Wonderfully revolting and utterly fascinating, it is a thrilling tribute to the interconnectedness of life, full of awe-inspiring detail and gripping facts. It will make you want to rush out and look at puddles through a magnifying glass. Your world will be larger for reading this book."
—Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare

"Dino Martins' genius is to make you care about the world's most despised and disgusting creatures—and find them fascinating, vital, and even beautiful. A mind-blowing, eye-watering revelation of a book."
—Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

"For the kid who built cities for ants, caught ladybirds, and wasn’t afraid to handle earthworms—this book will ignite that same wonder all over again. Dr. Dino Martins reminds me of my favorite biology teacher: big-hearted, brave, possessed of boundless enthusiasm and gutsy good humor, the one who led us all on field trips and encouraged the whole class to get our hands dirty. In Hidden Creatures, Martins brings the reader nose-to-glass, up close to a universe in miniature. If you’ve ever been bitten by a mosquito, plucked a tick or a flea from your dog, dealt with a kid with nits, or suffered an unwelcome bout of intestinal visitors, you’ll find yourself compelled by how these encounters unfold and the ways in which these tiny organisms shape entire ecosystems. Hidden Creatures is nature storytelling at its most compulsive—revealing the hidden dramas playing out in backyards, bodies, bloodstreams, and beyond."
—Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love

"Dino Martins' Hidden Creatures is a highly original offering in the sparsely occupied space of African-born thinker-scientists writing the landscapes and worlds they inhabit. In this literary work, Dino presents a gaze that is as rigorous and resonant as it is lyrical. This is a book of recovery and remembrance, a way of meeting our living world anew, beyond fear and cliché, towards intimacy and wonder. Rooted in the lived experiences and global journeys of the award-winning Kenyan biologist and entomologist, Hidden Creatures restores parasites—“creatures that become part of us, and even as they feed on us, make us a deeper part of the cosmos”—to their rightful place in the story of life. Here we meet Dino’s parasites as profound participants in the shared becoming of the Earth. Through this story, Dino invites us to reconsider our boundaries, our assumptions, and our own place within nature’s intricate and sometimes mysterious design. Hidden Creatures is deep scholarship animated by story, and story grounded in science, carried through a rare, beautiful, and much-awaited voice. A bold and singular literary achievement."
—Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Caine Prize–winning author of Dust and The Dragonfly Sea

DINO MARTINS is an award-winning entomologist and evolutionary biologist. A professor at Stony Brook University, he has served as the director of the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya, founded by Dr. Richard Leakey, and previously as the director of the Mpala Research Centre. He holds a PhD in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. His research and writing have been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, The Guardian, TED, the BBC, Granta, and National Geographic. He lives on Long Island and in Malindi, Kenya.