Books by Matthew Murrie

A fascinating compendium featuring over 70 unusual animal species. What's in a name? This lively, illustrated celebration is jam-packed with creatures notable for their bizarre, baffling, and just-plain-funny names.  Meet the White-Bellied Go-Away Bird, whose cry sounds like someone screaming, "Go away!" Or the Aye-Aye, whose name means "I don't know" in Malagasy because no one wants anything to do with this bad-luck creature.  Some are obvious, if still weird––guess what the Fried Egg Jellyfish looks like. Others sound like an inside joke: It's easy to figure out what was on the taxonomist's mind when he christened a fly he discovered Pieza Pie.  Along the way you'll learn all about these curiously named animals' just-as-curious habits, appearances, and abilities.