Description

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A first-of-its-kind pop-science journey into the hidden world of baby animals

Entire ecosystems rest on the shoulders (or tentacles, or jointed exoskeletons) of animal babies; it’s time we paid them more attention. In Nursery Earth, researcher Danna Staaf invites readers to explore these tiny, secret lives, revealing some of nature’s strangest and most ingenious workings. A salamander embryo breathes with the help of algae inside its cells. The young grub of a Goliath beetle dwarfs its parents. Fluffy flamingo chicks delay turning pink for years to let adults know they’re not mating rivals and to encourage friendly behavior.

Our bias toward adult animals (not least because babies can be hard to find) means these wonders have long gone under-researched. But for all kinds of animals, if we overlook their babies, we miss out on the most fascinating—and consequential—time in their lives. Nursery Earth makes the case that these young creatures are not just beings in progress but beings in their own right. Our planet needs them all: the maggots as much as the kittens!

About the Author

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Danna Staaf earned a PhD in biology from Stanford University with her studies of baby squid. She is the author of Monarchs of the Sea and The Lady and the Octopus, and she has written for Science, Atlas Obscura, and Nautilus. She lives in California with her human family, a cat, and a garden full of grubs, caterpillars, maggots, and innumerable other babies.

Richard Strathmann, PhD, is an expert in the diverse patterns of animal development, with a particular focus on marine animals. He finds the beauty and variety of changes from eggs through embryos, larvae, and metamorphosis endlessly entertaining. He joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1973.

Praise For…

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Every page of Danna Staaf’s Nursery Earth brims with strange wonders. This book is a gobsmacking delight!

— Sy Montgomery, New York Times–bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

Some animal babies are really cute (kittens), and some are a bit horrifying (larval parasites), but this book shows how all are incredibly interesting. Packed with the fascinating and the fantastic, Nursery Earth is a surprising page-turner, as hard to put down as a new puppy.

— Carl Safina, New York Times–bestselling author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

There is certainly a cuteness factor here. . . . [But] beyond the oohs and ahs, scientist Staaf shares significant findings about the connections between the environment and human genes. The miracle of life (and developmental biology, Staaf’s specialty) is the book’s journey, documenting each stage, from egg to juvenile/teenager, with easy-to-understand research and illuminating analogies.
— Booklist

I can’t count the number of times the word wow crossed my lips as I eagerly turned to the next page of Nursery Earth. If you’ve ever wondered how nature works, Staaf shows us why you’d best not ignore the beginnings. This book is the finest kind of science writing: heartwarming and perspective-shifting!

— Juli Berwald, author of Spineless and Life on the Rocks