Grammy-award winner Taylor Swift now has a millipede named in her honor thanks to a Virginia Tech scientist.
The Nannaria swiftae is a species of twisted-claw millipede found in Tennessee, where Swift once lived. It was named by lead researcher Derek A. Hennen, a fan of the singer-songwriter.
"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," he said.
"The specific name is a noun in the genitive case derived as a matronym, and is named in honor of the artist Taylor Swift, in recognition of her talent as a songwriter and performer and in appreciation of the enjoyment her music has brought [Hennen]," according to the paper.
Discovery of the bug was published on open-access ZooKeys on Monday. Hennen also named another millipede after his wife, called Nannaria marianae.
Animal species borrowing names from celebrities is pretty common in the world of science. In 2012, a previously unnamed species of horse fly was given the named scaptia (plinthina) beyonceae, after Beyoncé.
In 2015, Spiderman star Andrew Garfield got an eight-legged friend named after him: Pritha garfieldi. The same researchers also named another spider after Tobey Maguire.
Last year, scientists in Australia named a fly with electric green colors Opaluma rupaul after drag legend Ru Paul.
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