Pink millipede with X-factor

29 May 2008

Every year, thousands of new species are discovered and registered. But few are as particular in appearance as the shocking pink millipede from Thailand that has been discovered by millipede-expert Professor Henrik Enghoff from the Natural History Museum of Denmark at University of Copenhagen. The millipede is in the top ten  of the most remarkable new species discovered in 2007, according to an annual list made by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University.

- I think it is amusing that the pink millipede is on the list and that it even received a fine 3rd place, says Henrik Enghoff, who has discovered and described many millipedes during his more than 40 years as a millipede-expert.

- The increasing awareness of climate change brings attention to the consequences on biodiversity that come from global warming. To understand and measure those consequences we need to have a point of reference, a starting point, and it will probably be a surprise to most people how little we actually know about the diversity of species on earth, explains Henrik Enghoff, who gladly admits that being a millipede-expert may seem a bit nerdy, but quickly adds that there are many tiny pieces to put together before we have an overview of life on earth – and some of those pieces are the millipedes.

About the TOP10 list Henrik Enghoff says:

- One of the purposes of that list is to spur attention to the vast amount of work that is put into mapping biodiversity. Scientifically, the pink millipede is not the most interesting discovery we did in 2007 but it has the famed X-factor that can attract attention and make people think about biodiversity.

The TOP10 list of the most remarkable new species are published by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of biologists specialised in identification and classification. The committee also has a member from University of Copenhagen: Professor Niels Peder Kristensen. The list is published every year on the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné’s birthday on 23 May. About 1.8 million species have been described since Linné introduces his system for classification of animals in the 18th century.

Read more about the pink millipede and other new species at the TOP10 list