Word: leakey
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Since scientific names don't come from pop songs, Lucy was given the tongue- challenging classification Australopithecus afarensis. Many more remains of the species have turned up, including beautifully preserved footprints found in the mid-1970s in Tanzania by a team led by the famed archaeologist Mary Leakey. Set in solidified volcanic ash, the footprints confirmed that Lucy and her kin walked like humans. Some of the A. afarensis specimens date back about 3.9 million years B.P. (before the present), making them the oldest known hominid fossils...
...SCIENCE: Leakey After the Crash...
Eventually, digging up the past became less important to Leakey than preserving Africa's heritage for future generations. Asked in 1989 to head Kenya's wildlife department -- which included a disorderly paramilitary force ^ that failed to protect elephants, rhinos and other animals from poachers -- he insisted that the agency be freed from government control. He then fired dishonest employees and raised the low salaries that made officials and troops vulnerable to bribes from poachers. Today morale is up, poaching is down, and bribe taking is nonexistent...
Just as important, Leakey persuaded international donors to pour money into Kenya. The World Bank has promised that if the $155 million aid package to develop tourism and protect vital areas produces good results, a similar amount will follow. Leakey believes that the wildlife service can be well managed and attract financing without his leadership -- but not yet. When the plane crashed in June, many of his deputies were out of Kenya, and Leakey was afraid the conservation project would go awry if he left for England...
...Leakey regrets his decision, he will not say so. He figures his condition was so bad that it would have been difficult to move him much earlier anyway. Although he has been flat on his back for more than six weeks, he is in constant touch with his staff and says he expects to resume duties in mid- August. After nine surgical procedures, he estimates that he has a 50% chance of losing his left leg below the knee. "Some people used to believe I think with my feet, but I don't, actually," he jokes. Says National Geographic editor...