ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The human ancestor fossil known as Lucy left Ethiopia for display in a European museum, Ethiopian national media reported Friday, citing Tourism Minister Selamawit Kassa.<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s skeleton, which is 40% complete, left Ethiopia on Friday and will be displayed at the Czech National Museum in Prague for approximately two months.<\/p>\n
Lucy was recovered in Ethiopia in 1974 from what was an ancient lake near fossilized remains of crocodiles, turtle eggs and crab claws. She was a member of Australopithecus afarensis, an early human species that lived in Africa between about 4 million and 3 million years ago.<\/p>\n
This is the second time Lucy has left Ethiopia. The first was in 2013, when she toured the United States.<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s fragmented bones will be exhibited alongside Selam, the fossil of an Australopithecus baby that is about 100,000 years older than Lucy and was discovered in the same region 25 years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an iconic specimen, she belongs to the whole world, so sharing her with the rest of humanity is something that everyone would love to see,\u201d said Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University.<\/p>\n
While many experts believe Lucy\u2019s trip to Europe presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people in Europe and beyond, there are safety concerns about the transportation of her fragile bones. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fragmented bones of Lucy are truly unique and need utmost care. Traveling to Europe has its own risks,\u201d said Gidey Gebreegziabher, an archaeologist and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Warsaw, Poland, \u201cShe will also be exposed to different climate conditions, which could potentially have negative impacts on her preservation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even in Ethiopia, the public has only occasionally seen the real Lucy fossil. At the National Museum of Ethiopia, a replica of Lucy is exhibited while the actual remains are stored in a secure vault. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen how she was packed, so I have no worries about anything happening to Lucy anymore,\u201d Yohannes said.<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s quiet departure on Thursday night also raises questions about transparency as many Ethiopians \u2014who take pride in her \u2014 were unaware of her journey to Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable! The government appears to be deliberately sidelining its people from the narrative of their own heritage,\u201d Gebreegziabher said.<\/p>\n
Bekele Reta, 43, a resident who lives just 50 meters (164 feet) from the museum where Lucy is housed, was unaware of Lucy\u2019s departure until he saw it on social media. <\/p>\n
\u201cI learned this morning on Facebook that Lucy has departed for Prague. It\u2019s unfortunate that most Ethiopians only have the opportunity to see her showcased elsewhere.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Early this year, the director general of the Czech National Museum, Michal Luke\u0161, in a statement announcing the exhibition of Lucy and Selam, expressed his appreciation of the Ethiopians for agreeing to \u201clend\u201d the remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese priceless exhibits give us a unique insight into the past and deepen our understanding of humanity\u2019s roots,\u201d said Luke\u0161.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Associated Press writer Evelyne Musambi contributed from Nairobi, Kenya. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The human ancestor fossil known as Lucy left Ethiopia for display in a European…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[123292,933,106461,3907,2000,299,5187,4179,70,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-348289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-123292","9":"tag-animals","10":"tag-archaeology-and-anthropology","11":"tag-article","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115036599475608707","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}