Martha L. Crump

Martha L. "Marty" Crump is a behavioral ecologist in the Department of Biology and the Ecology Center at Utah State University who studies amphibians and reptiles. Crump was the first individual to perform a long-term ecological study on a community of tropical amphibians, and did pioneering work in the classification of variability in amphibian egg size as a function of habitat predictability. She has co-authoried one of the most popular modern herpetology textbooks, Herpetology (1997–2015) as well as the memoir In Search of the Golden Frog and a number of other books for both adults and children.

Childhood Martha L. "Marty" Crump was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and her interest in ecology and the environment were spurred by her childhood spent in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

Crump was the first individual to perform a long-term ecological study on a community of tropical amphibians. She studied reproductive strategies in the neotropical anuran community at Santa Cecilia, Ecuador and recognized ten different modes of reproduction. These categories were later modified and adapted for all anuran reproductive patterns that scientists are currently aware of.

She has also been involved in several conservation activities, including acting as a board member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as part of the DAPTF (Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force) from 2000 to 2010. She has held several editorial positions including Associate Editor of Herpetological Natural History from 2000 to 2006 and has served as an officer in several professional organizations including the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and The Herpetologists’ League. She is currently the Program Officer for the annual scientific conference Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH).

Crump co-authored all four editions of one of the two most popular modern herpetology textbooks, Herpetology (1997–2015). Her other books include a memoir, In Search of the Golden Frog (2000). and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) Presidential Award for Lifetime Achievement in Herpetology (2023).

List of works A Year with Nature: An Almanac by Marty Crump (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2018, ) In Search of the Golden Frog by Marty Crump (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000, ) Headless Males Make Great Lovers: And Other Unusual Natural Histories by Marty Crump (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2006, ) Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers: & Other Unusual Relationships by Marty Crump (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2009, ) Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon: The Biggest, Deadliest Lizard Gives Up Its Secrets by Marty Crump (Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 2010, ) Amphibians and Reptiles: An Introduction to Their Natural History and Conservation by Marty Crump (Granville, OH: McDonald & Woodward Publishing, 2011, ) Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg: The Lore and Mythology of Amphibians and Reptiles by Marty Crump (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2011, ) The Mystery of Darwin's Frog by Marty Crump (Boyds Mills, 2013, ) Frog Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Amphibian Lives by Marty Crump, illustrated by Tony Angell (Chicago University Press, 2024, ) Snake Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Serpentine Lives by Marty Crump, illustrated by Stuart Patience (Chicago University Press, 2026, ) Herpetology (2nd Edition) by F. Harvey Pough, Robin M. Andrews, John E. Cadle, Martha L. Crump, Alan H. Savitzky, and Kentwood D. Wells (Prentice Hall, 2000, ) Herpetology (1st Edition) by F. Harvey Pough, Robin M. Andrews, John E. Cadle, Martha L. Crump, Alan H. Savitzky, and Kentwood D. Wells (Pearson, 1997, ) Herpetology (2nd Edition) by F. Harvey Pough, Robin M. Andrews, John E. Cadle, Martha L. Crump, Alan H. Savitzky, and Kentwood D. Wells (Prentice Hall, 2000, ) Herpetology (3rd Edition) by F. Harvey Pough, Robin M. Andrews, John E. Cadle, Martha L. Crump, Alan H. Savitzky, and Kentwood D. Wells (Benjamin Cummings, 2003, ) Herpetology (4th Edition) by F. Harvey Pough, Robin M. Andrews, Martha L. Crump, Alan H. Savitzky, Kentwood D. Wells, Matthew C. Brandley (Sinauer, 2015, ) Reptiles and Amphibians of the Americas (2nd Edition) by Marty Crump and Andy Charrier, illustrated by Loreto Salinas (Post Wave Publishing, 2025, )