Hidden Creatures

Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites

By: Dino J. Martins

Dr. Dino Martins, an awarding-winning entomologist of Kenya's Turkana Basin, where life was born, unspools the hidden, squirming world of parasites—some of the most misunderstood, and important, creatures with whom we share the Earth (and our bodies!).


“May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard” is the oldest sentence ever written using an alphabet. Inscribed onto an ivory comb from an archaeological site in Tel Lachish, west of Hebron in central Israel, this remarkable find dates from four thousand years ago.

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When we think of parasites, we might think of terrifying tiny creatures who suck blood and steal food, and that’s definitely a part of what these mysterious organisms are—but, as Martins shows, it’s only a part. From the tapeworm, which can grow a remarkable 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale, to the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its vicious, needle-like mouth, to perhaps the most universal symbol of parasitic behavior in our language, the much-mythologized leech, all parasites make a living by exploiting other living things.

In each chapter, Martins takes us through gaping geological time to explain the history of a particular parasite’s evolution and its interactions with humans and animals alike. This is a journey across the world ten times over—from Nairobi to New York, East Africa to the Amazon, Borneo to London public parks—and to the outer reaches of the animal kingdom. Along the way, we meet the brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures and encounter not only parasites but their incredible variety of hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, the elusive human.

Throughout history, parasites have been used to cure disease, seen as delicious delicacies, and feared among the most dangerous banes of existence. But there is much to learn about these critters yet, and Martins is just the person to take on the task. Immersive, entertaining, driven by a curiosity that’s utterly (wait for it) infectious, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and never ceases to surprise.