Gorilla: The Largest Primate In The World

It has been quite some time since I have discussed the apes ingeneral. Now it is time to be more specific. I have already shared interesting facts about Chimps now its turn for the Biggest primate the GORILLA.

 

Scientific name: Gorilla gorilla

The word Gorilla comes from the Greek word Gorillai meaning the tribe of hairy women. There are several species in the group of the Gorillas. Western low-land Gorillas, Cross river Gorillas, mountain Gorillas eastern lowland Gorillas are some of the species that included in the group.

Gorillas show sexual dimorphism i.e, male and female Gorilla differs very much by size and appearance that you can differentiate the two very easily. A adult male Gorilla can weight up to 600 lbs where as a female Gorilla can be up to 200 to 300 lbs.

They are the largest group of primates in the world.

They are knuckle walkers and use four limbs while walking. Though they are capable of bipedal walking like humans.

They move every day in search of food. They donot sleep in the same nest twice in a row. Every time they built a new one.Though their sense organs are highly developed they cannot distinguish between colors.

This group of primates are mostly vegetarian. They sometimes eat slugs and insect but don’t eat meat. Due to the vegetarian habitat their stomach size is far more bigger than their chest size. 

They hardly drink water.

The lower jaw of Gorillas are more protruded than their upper jaw.

They are social animal and live in a group of 5 to 9. They general are not aggressive as portrayed by people but if provoked they can be very dangerous.

The newborn Gorilla are capable of walking with in 5 months from its birth. But they prefer to stay with their mothers till 2.5 years.

They are next closest relatives to humans after Bonobos and Chimpanzees. Their DNA is 98% similar to that of humans. Gorillas have 10 fingers and 10 toes like humans. They also have 32 teeth. Every Gorilla’s finger print is unique, just like humans.

The upper body strength of a Gorilla is 6 times more than a human. They have very well developed arms and muscles.

The silverback is not a different species of Gorilla rather at around 12 years of age the male Gorilla develops some silver coloring on their back. They are the mature males of the group and they are the leader of the group. They also grow canine teeth.

The life span of Gorillas can be up to 35-50 years. Leopards and Crocodiles are known to prey on Gorillas.

The Gorillas are grouped in the endangered and critically endangered animals in IUCN red list.

So you are now aware of some of the interesting facts about the “King-Kong”. Now watching the movie will be much more enjoyable than it was before. Thanks for reading. We will covers some other animals in the my later blogs.

The Apes: A General Idea

Apes generally refers as the human like creatures. They can keep their bodies in both semi-upright as well as upright position. The arms are generally longer than legs. This article put some light on the different apes in our animal Kingdom.

The word “Ape” has several meaning to several people. For most of the people ape is a synonym for monkeys. Some refers to any tail-less monkeys and non-human hominoids. But biologically speaking we humans are also part of apes along with Bonobos, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orangutans and Gibbons, where as Monkeys are not a part of it.

The apes can be divided in two parts:

1. Lesser apes: Which includes Gibbons.
2. Greater apes: includes of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and humans

Gibbons:

They are the smallest(height 75-100cm weight 10-14kg) among the apes. Generally found in southeast rainforests. They are almost entirely arboreal. They are omnivorous i.e, they eat fruits as wells as meat. They can be very fast moving in the trees. Their speed can reach up to 55km/h. Gibbons are monogamous by nature.

Orangutans:

They are much larger when compared to Gibbons(height 4-5ft weight 35-60kgs). Only found in the forests of Asia. They are also omnivorous and can live up to 50 years. Orangutans are the largest arboreal animal living on the planet.

Gorillas:

Gorillas are the largest member of the Ape family. A male Gorilla can weight up to 275kg and standing height can reach up to 1.75 meters. Gorillas are herbivorous in nature. They eat fruits, herbs stems and roots. They can be found in central and western Africa.

Chimpanzees:

Chimps can weight up to 70kgs. They are very intelligent among the rest of their cousins are much more similar to humans then any other. They are omnivorous and can live upto 40 years. For more details and interesting facts about Chimpanzees check out my earlier blog.

Bonobos:

Earlier they were clubbed with the chimps(the pigmy chimpanzees) but now they have been recognized as separate animal. They are 2.5ft in height and can weight up to 40kgs. They are mostly frugivorous, means fruit eaters. They are found in Congo in central Africa.

Unlike monkeys Apes do not possess tail, and Apes are generally bigger than Monkeys(except for Gibbons they can be smaller than many species of Monkeys). They are considerably larger than monkeys(except Gibbons).

Apes have larger brains than any other group of animals(except the Dolphins). They are found to be extremely intelligent and can use tools.

Apes are generally agile climbers of trees(except Gorillas and Humans).

I have already discussed interesting facts about Chimpanzees in my earlier article. I will add articles on the rest of the apes too later.

Thanks for reading. Please share this article to create awareness among people.