Taylor Swift, US singer-songwriter known for hits such as Shake It Off and You Belong With Me, has earned a new praise——she now has a new species of millipede（千足虫) named in her honor.
The millipede Nannaria swiftae joins 16 other new species described from the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. They have a valuable role, for they break down leaf litter and release their nutrients into the ecosystem. They live on the forest floor, where they feed on rotten leaves and other plant matter, and in fact, they are somewhat tricky to catch, because they tend to remain buried in the soil, sometimes staying completely beneath the surface.
Because of their presence in museum collections, scientists long suspected that the millipedes included many new species, but these specimens （标本） went undescribed for decades. To fix this, the researchers began a multi-year project to collect new specimens throughout the eastern US. They traveled to 17 US states, checking under leaf litter, rocks, and logs to find species so that they could sequence（测定序列） their DNA and scientifically describe them.
Looking at over 1, 800 specimens collected on their field study or taken from university and museum collections, the authors described 17 new species, including Nannaria marianae, which was named after Hennen's wife. They discovered that the millipedes prefer to live in forested habitats near streams and are often found buried under the soil, exhibiting more mysterious behaviors than their relatives.
The lead author of the study, Derck Hennen, a fan of Taylor Swift says, "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."
