--- title: "Scientist Discovers Gross New Fungus on Twitter" description: "A Danish biologist discovered a previously undocumented species of fungus that likes to ride on the surface of millipedes on Twitter. Troglomyces twitteri." date: "2020-05-15" modified: "2020-05-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/gross-fungus-twitter" categories: - "Biology" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "biology" - "fungus" - "twitter" --- # Scientist Discovers Gross New Fungus on Twitter ![]() *\Image: Derek Hennen\* Biologist Ana Sofia Reboleira from the University of Copenhagen's Natural History Museum of Denmark discovered a previously undocumented species of fungus that likes to ride on the surface of millipedes — and named it after something equally disgusting. It's new official Latin name: *troglomyces twitteri,* an ode to the social media platform that allowed it to be discovered. Reboleira discovered the fungus while looking at a picture of a North American millipede uploaded to Twitter by colleague Derek Hennen, a researcher at Virginia Tech. Tiny dots on the surface of the millipede first caught her attention. "I could see something looking like fungi on the surface of the millipede, Reboleira said in [a statement](). "Until then, these fungi had never been found on American millipedes. So, I went to my colleague and showed him the image. That's when we ran down to the museum's collections and began digging." In a [new paper]() published in the journal *MycoKeys*, Reboleira and her colleagues describe how the fungus can puncture the millipede's shell so that half of it still sticks out. The fungus is part of an order called labouls, a poorly-understood order of species. The researchers are hoping the discovery could shed new light on these tiny organisms and their relationship with their host. https://twitter.com/derekhennen/status/1261084074627735555 "As far as we know, this is the first time that a new species has been discovered on Twitter," Reboleira said. "It highlights the importance of these platforms for sharing research - and thereby being able to achieve new results." It's a type of discovery more pertinent than ever. "I hope that it will motivate professional and amateur researchers to share more data via social media," she added. "This is something that has been increasingly obvious during the coronavirus crisis, a time when so many are prevented from getting into the field or laboratories." **READ MORE:** [Funky, new parasitic species named after Twitter, where it was discovered]() \[*CNET*\] **More on fungi:** *[These Researchers Want You to Live In a Fungus Megastructure]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()