Above is Desmoxytes purpurosea, a millipede that was recently chosen (somewhat arbitrarily) by Arizona State University’s International Institute for Species Exploration as one of the “top ten” species described in 2007. Also called the “shocking pink dragon millipede,” scientists suspect its coloration warns predators of its toxicity. Here, from the press release, is the full list of the top ten: 

On the list are an ornate sleeper ray, with a name that sucks: Electrolux; a 75-million-year-old giant duck-billed dinosaur; a shocking pink millipede; a rare, off-the-shelf frog; one of the most venomous snakes in the world; a fruit bat; a mushroom; a jellyfish named after its victim; a life-imitates-art “Dim” rhinoceros beetle; and the “Michelin Man” plant.

Benny Bleiman isn’t too happy with those choices. He describes a few more that didn’t make the list:

[S]ome of the year’s sweetest creatures didn’ t make the list! For example, this frogfish whose eyes are in the front of its face like a mammel; and what about this GIANT SHREW that is the size of a house cat!? Yeah, no biggie; And why for any reason would a brand new, 9 foot-long, spitting cobra, who has enough poison to kill 20 people or an elusive tiny dwarf, Amazonian, river manatee make the list? They’re only ridiculously sweet.

Well, Benny, a top ten list is, by definition, limited. I’m just happy that some much-deserved attention is going to the incredible diversity of species on Earth.