Scientific American Sep 2018

September 2018 ScientificAmerican.com 15

constraints in terms of ‘you must gulp your
food down or it will all be gone’ ” she says.
The ancient dogs may also have boosted
xß îDž³³øîߞx³îā§xäÍ$ ̧lxß³šāx³DäUßxD¦ down skeletal matter much faster than mi - crobes do and leave nutrients such as calcium scattered across the savanna in their chalky white feces. In contrast Wang says the Boro- phagus’ digestion was apparently less thor- ̧øšÍÙ7³§ž¦xšāx³Däjîšxāl ̧³ÜîšDþxîšx¦ž³l of advanced highly acidic digestive system to help them really—shall we say—melt down the bones inside the digestive system” he says. But crushing up and transporting tiny fragments across the grassland may have had a similar ³øîߞx³îäÇßxDlž³x†xîjšx³ ̧îxäÍ
5šxU ̧ß ̧ǚDž³x§ž³xDxlžxl ̧†­āäîxߞ-
ously about two million years ago leaving no
descendants. But it was a major group of carni-
vores with dozens of species spanning about
30 million years of North American fossil histo-
ry. “There’s really nothing like this group
of animals around today and yet they lived in
North America and potentially had a really
important role in the ecosystem especially
allowing for increased processing of carcasses
or recycling of nutrients” says paleoecologist
"DߞäDx3D³îžä ̧…<D³lxßUž§î7³žþxßäžîājÿš ̧
was not involved in the study. “So this is a bit
of a detective mystery in trying to reconstruct
the ecology of these animals.” — Diana Crow

February issue of American Sociological Review.
Hypothetical student governments “are a
far cry from studying the American public and
real political issues so I’d hesitate to general-
žąxjÚäDāäžD³D$øî ąjDÇ ̧§žîžD§äžx³îžäîDîîšx
7³žþxßäžîā ̧…0x³³äā§þD³žDjÿš ̧šDääîølžxl
Trump’s supporters and was not involved in this
study. But “the idea is interesting” she adds.
The researchers did tie the study to the 2016
election by surveying 402 participants who
were told that one of Trump’s tweets about
§ ̧UD§ÿDß­ž³Uxž³Dš ̧DĀšDlUxx³lx‰³ž-
tively debunked. Trump supporters were more
likely than Clinton supporters to see the tweet
as not literal but as a challenge to the elite.
They were also twice as likely to rate their pre-
ferred candidate as highly “authentic.”
Oliver Hahl a management researcher at
Dß³xžx$x§§ ̧³7³žþxßäžîāD³lîšxÇDÇxßÜä
lead author says his studies have helped him
understand Trump’s supporters: “It gives me
the sense that the world is still rational to
some degree.” — Matthew Hutson

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