YSM Issue 87.4

NEWS
in brief
paleontology
Ancient Thylacocephala fossil unearthed
IMAGE COURTESY OF DEREK BRIGGS
A color-marked image of the
Thylacares brandonensis fossil, which
allows the structures to be clearly
defined from surrounding rock.
A recent paper published in BMC
Evolutionary Biology, coauthored by former
Peabody Director and Professor of
Geology & Geophysics Derek Briggs,
reports the discovery of a novel ancient
arthropod Thylacares brandonensis. After
unearthing the creature in Wisconsin, the
research group came across a conundrum:
although their fossils resembled
thylacocephalans, an extinct class of
crustaceans (the group that includes living
crabs and lobsters), the rocks in which the
fossils were found dated from the Silurian
era (around 435 million years ago), which
is millions of years older than previous
discoveries of Thylacocephala.
Under technological probing by Joachim
and Carolin Haug, formerly in the Briggs
lab and now in Munich, the origins of
the fossil emerged from their dusty
surroundings into new light. The research
team used macro-lens cameras, crosspolarized
lighting, Adobe Photoshop,
Blender 3D modeling, and more to
produce an image of the fossil that could
be closely analyzed.
Critical features were revealed,
showing that the fossil belonged with the
Thylacocephala, extending the chronological
reach of the group millions of years
further back. Furthermore, using detailed
models alongside their own expertise, the
research team was able to describe the
creatures’ probable habits and lifestyle,
such as how the spiny front limbs were
used to capture its prey.
Every child played in a sandbox looking
for dinosaur bones, but as evidenced by
the discovery of Thylacares brandonensis,
paleontologists have more than shovels
in their toolboxes today. 3D printers,
microscopes, and manipulated light are
employed alongside more traditional
means to extend the scope of what can be
known about ancient life on Earth.
By Kathryn Ward
cognitive science
Mapping human perception of groups
PHOTO BY THERESA STEINMEYER
Yale Professor Joshua Knobe’s
most recent research attempts to
illuminate how we attribute mentalities
to groups of people in comparison to
individuals.
We are often warned to “stay off the
bandwagon,” or to avoid conforming with
a certain group mentaility.
The psychology of groups and how
individuals perceive groups has long been
a mystery, but recent research by Professor
of Cognitive Science and Philosophy
Joshua Knobe reveals another aspect of
human complexity.
Knobe’s study involved two experiments.
The first revealed that a designated group
of test subjects, referred to as perceivers,
attributed a particular mentality to an
entire group but did not ascribe that same
mindset to individuals within the group.
For example, these “people can think that
an organization knows how to build a
space shuttle even if no member of the
organization knows how to build a space
shuttle.”
The second experiment that Knobe’s
team conducted demonstrated that the
brain does not distinguish between a group
and an individual when assigning a certain
mentality—shown by the activation of the
right temporo-parietal junction, a region
typically associated with theory of mind—
when attributing thoughts to corporations.
Some psychologists argue that when
people say “the Catholic Church believes
capital punishment is morally wrong,”
they are not actually attributing a belief
to the Catholic Church, but rather they
are merely using the word “believe”; this
study, however, provides direct evidence
against this argument.
These findings could have major political
and economic implications as they relate
to how people perceive and interact with
governments and corporations. They set
the stage for future research, which will
further advance our understanding of the
human mind.
By Sofia Braunstein
6 Yale Scientific Magazine October 2014 www.yalescientific.org