Hi?
"
He believes the rats responded to an instinctive urge to make their compatriots feel better, just as humans and chimpanzees and some cetaceans do. “The mechanism must ancient,” said de Waal.
"
Rats Free Trapped Friends, Hint at Universal Empathy | Wired Science | Wired.com
Can I use ancient as a verb?
I wondered if this is just mistyping or lack of my grammar knowledge.
"Ancient" is not a verb. Seems like a word is missing from the quote.
"..be.."