Scientist names new millipede after Taylor Swift

Scientist names new millipede after Taylor Swift

The scientist says he is a big fan of Taylor Swift's music, and it is an honour to name the newly discovered species after her.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift/ Instagram (@taylorswift)

There is a new species of millipede named after Taylor Swift!  

Dr. Derek Hennen, an entomologist and myriapodologist, took to Twitter to announce that he and his colleagues had discovered 17 new millipede species.

Derek named one of them after Taylor Swift. 

"This new millipede species is Nannaria swiftae: I named it after @taylorswift13!" he wrote. 

READ: Taylor Swift is the world's highest paid celebrity - Forbes

The scientist says he is a big fan of the 'Wildest Dreams' hitmaker. 

“Her music helped me get through the highs and lows of graduate school, so naming a new millipede species after her is my way of saying thanks," the scientist said according to Billboard

Hennen also wrote on Twitter: "I'm a big fan of her music, so I wanted to show my appreciation by naming this new species from Tennessee after her. A high honor!"

The millipede is reportedly only found in Tennessee, a state where Swift has lived. 

Derek also named one of millipedes after his wife.

"And with all those new species come new names! I had fun figuring out names for these species; here's one that I named after my wife: Nannaria marianae! A small thank-you for all her patience when we're taking a nature hike and I stop to look for millipedes," he wrote on Twitter. 

The other millipedes are named after trees.

"I named other new species after tree species I noticed while I was collecting, so now we have Nannaria liriodendra (after tuliptree) and N. rhododendra (after rhododendron)! Thanks to the plants, these millipedes have great habitat to live in, after all!"he wrote on Twitter.

Check out the new species below. 

Image courtesy of Instagram. 

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