On Wednesday, April 22, Dr. Lawrence G. Barnes will give a guest lecture titled “Dolphins in Cajon Pass,” at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands. The 7:30 pm lecture is open to public and free of charge.

The San Bernardino County Museum collections contain the only known specimen of a new species of earliest Miocene dolphin, belonging in the group that ultimately gave rise to the endangered Little Ganges River Dolphin of South Asia. The fossil was found in the Cajon Pass. This presentation will be how it got there, and why it is important.

Dr. Lawrence G. Barnes has been a curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County since 1972, with responsibilities for fossil mammals and fossil marine vertebrates. He was a charter member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, and is a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the Mexican Paleontological Society, the Mexican Marine Mammal Society, and the Baja California Peninsular Geological Society. He is visiting professor of marine mammalogy at the state universities in Ensenada and La Paz, Mexico, and at the federal marine institute in La Paz, CICIMAR. Dr. Barnes has published more than 250 titles, and has named at last count 40 species, 24 genera, 13 subfamilies, 4 families, and 2 superfamilies of whales, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, sea cows, desmostylians, and even a beach bear.

The San Bernardino County Museum sponsors its guest lecture series to share current research by prominent researchers and scholars with the public. Scheduled for this year’s series are Cheryl Hayashi on the biodiversity in spider silk (May 6), Gene Fowler on Magellanic penguins (May 27), and Luis Chiappe on glorified dinosaurs (June 24). The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org.

The museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. If assistive listening devices or other auxiliary aids are needed in order to participate in museum exhibits or programs, requests should be made through Museum Visitor Services at least three business days prior to your visit. Visitor Services’ telephone number is 909-307-2669 ext. 229 or (TDD) 909-792-1462.