Lucy's Tour Abroad Sparks Protests.

The article presents information on the protests concerning the tour of the prehistoric hominid Lucy to various museums abroad. A contract has been recently signed to fly the original partial skeleton to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for an exhibit in fall 2007. However, scientists in the U.S. and Africa are fighting to stop the tour, saying that transporting and exhibiting the fragile specimen could damage it. They have protested to African politicians and American museum officials that Lucy's travels are unlikely to benefit Ethiopian science, and that the exhibit would violate a previous agreement against transporting original hominids out of the home countries.