On Wednesday, May 25, Dr. Mark Springer will present a lecture, “Tooth Loss and Molecular Cavities in Placental Mammals,” at the San BernardinoCounty Museum at 7:30pm. Dr. Springer will discuss tooth genes— “molecular fossils” —in mammals that do not have teeth, and how these genes reflect the fossil record. This program is free to public.

“Studies documenting the co-occurrence of morphological degeneration in the fossil record and molecular decay in the genome are rare,” said Dr. Springer. “We used morphology and the fossil record to predict the occurrence of ‘molecular fossils’ of tooth genes in mammals that lack teeth such as baleen whales, anteaters, and pangolins. The molecular decay of tooth genes in baleen whales and other toothless mammals mirrors the fossil record and provides evidence of the enormous predictive power of Darwin’s theory of descent with modification.”

The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. This lecture is free to the public. 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.