On Wednesday, January 26, Australian paleontologist John A. Long will give a guest lecture on fossil fish in “Swimming in Stone,” at 7:30pm at the San Bernardino County Museum. This program is free of charge and open to public.

Long will talk about 380-million-year-old fishes from the famous Gogo site in Western Australia that are perfectly preserved in 3-D form. From giant carnivorous placoderms (ancient armored fishes) to the dawn of the modern fish fauna, Gogo has contributed many critical specimens used in elucidating our knowledge of how the first back-boned animals evolved and radiated.

John A. Long is currently the Vice President of Research and Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He is also an author of popular science books. His main area of research is on the fossil fish of the Late Devonian Gogo Formation from northern Western Australia. It has yielded many important insights into fish evolution, such as Gogonasus and Materpiscis, the latter specimen being crucial to our understanding of the origins of vertebrate reproduction.

His love of fossil collecting began at age 7 and he graduated with Ph.D from Monash University in 1984, specializing in Palaeozoic fish evolution. He held postdoctoral positions at the Australian National University (1984–85, Rothmans Fellow), The University of Western Australia (1986–87, Queen Elizabeth II Award) and The University of Tasmania (1988–89, ARC Fellow) before taking up a position as Curator in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Western Australian Museum (1989–2004), and then as Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria (2004–2009).

The San Bernardino County Museum sponsors its guest lecture series to share current research by prominent researchers and scholars with the public. 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.