Gorillas are beautiful animals of enormous size! They are easy to recognize because they punch themselves in the chest with muscular arms and grin, revealing huge fangs. These amazing creatures are very closely associated with people and demonstrate a high level of knowledge and sociability. Gorillas are the perfect combination of mind and muscle! This article will look at the various subspecies of gorillas and identify the largest gorilla in the world!
What is a gorilla?
Gorillas are primates and closely related to humans! In fact, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans diverged from a common ancestor about 7 million years ago. Taxonomic order Primates includes many species of lemurs, loris, tarsiers, monkeys and monkeys found throughout the world. Gorillas are monkeys, along with chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gibbons, and humans. To learn more about the differences between monkeys and monkeys, click here!
Genus Gorilla includes two species and four subspecies. Views Gorilla gorilla western gorilla and includes two subspecies: western lowland gorilla (G. g. gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (G. g. Diehli). The second type of gorilla is the eastern gorilla, also known as Gorilla Beringey… Two subspecies of the eastern gorilla include the mountain gorilla (G. b. Beringey) and the eastern lowland gorilla (G. b. Grauery). Mountain gorillas are also commonly known as silver gorillas. Genetic evidence suggests that western and eastern gorillas diverged approximately 261,000 years ago.
Which of the subspecies of gorillas is the largest?
The largest gorilla subspecies is the eastern lowland gorilla. A feral male eastern lowland gorilla typically weighs between 361 and 461 pounds! Thus, gorillas are the largest living primates. Another subspecies of the eastern gorilla, the mountain gorilla, weighs between 265 and 421 pounds. In terms of subspecies of western gorillas, Cross River gorillas and western lowland gorillas typically weigh between 310 and 440 pounds. However, gorillas of all subspecies can weigh significantly more in captivity.
How does gorillas compare to other primates?
Within the order PrimatesApes include gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and humans. Gibbons are “smaller apes”. Gorillas, as the largest living primates, are in large part the largest of the great apes. Male orangutans are the next largest non-human monkeys, averaging 165 pounds. Male chimpanzees average 88 to 154 pounds, while bonobos average 99 pounds. However, humans are the second-largest monkey in terms of weight, with the average American weighing 197.9 pounds.
Compared to monkeys, gorillas are huge. The largest monkey species is the mandrill. The male mandrill has a maximum weight of 119 pounds! This is very high among monkeys, but relatively few among monkeys. A gorilla weighs roughly four mandrills! The smallest monkey species is the pygmy monkey, which weighs 3.5 ounces. Thus, the weight of a gorilla is over 2,100 pygmy monkeys!
Why do gorillas get so big?
The gorilla’s enormous size has an evolutionary explanation. Gorillas show a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism is a significant difference in appearance between males and females of the same species. For example, in many bird species, this manifests itself as multi-colored feathers in males and dull feathers in females, such as peacocks and peacocks. In many primate species, there is a significant difference in size between the sexes. Sexual dimorphism is most often a product of sexual selection.
Sexual selection describes how one sex selects a person of the opposite sex based on preference characteristics that suggest greater fitness. Continuing with the peacock example, peacocks with the brightest and most complex tail feathers are better helpers than peacocks with duller tail feathers. Thoughtful colorful feathers indicate that the male is healthy, has access to resources and is able to dodge predators, despite the fact that he is so conspicuous. The female is more likely to mate with the brightest male because they will produce the most suitable offspring.
Although male gorillas do not have colorful feathers, their incredible size compared to females is an example of sexual dimorphism. Large bodies and large canines are the result of competition between men for access to women. Larger males show greater physical fitness, dominating other males, and, as a result, have more reproductive opportunities. As larger males continue to have more offspring than smaller males, the average size will increase over several generations.
What’s the largest gorilla ever recorded?
The largest gorilla ever recorded weighed 860 pounds! This giant gorilla was an eastern lowland gorilla born in captivity at the St. Louis Zoo. Gorillas and most animals in general weigh significantly more in captivity than those in the wild. The largest known wild gorilla is a male silver mountain gorilla that has been hunted in Cameroon. This large gorilla weighed 589 pounds! This is about 40% more than that of this subspecies.
How are gorillas doing today?
Today, all subspecies of gorillas are in serious danger. Mountain gorillas are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. The western and eastern lowland and Cross River gorillas are classified as endangered. Endangered is the most serious status before extinction in the wild and extinction. The western gorilla is more numerous than the eastern gorilla, but the number of individuals in the wild is very small.
Gorillas are primarily threatened by poaching – they are intentionally or unintentionally killed with traps set for other animals. Habitat destruction, disease and war also have dire consequences for gorilla populations. During civil unrest, refugees are turned into bushmeat for food, causing gorillas and other monkeys to suffer as a result. Because gorillas are so closely related to humans, they can suffer from various human-borne diseases. In 2004, Ebola devastated gorillas in the Republic of the Congo, effectively wiping out the population there. According to the latest estimates, up to 5,000 gorillas have died from Ebola.
Various conservation measures are being taken and have had many positive results. There used to be fewer than 880 live mountain gorillas, but they were reclassified as Endangered in 2018 as their population exceeded 1,000. Breeding programs at various zoos attempt to directly re-colonize both species. Organizations and laws also exist to protect gorillas. The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) aims to save all great apes, including gorillas. In addition, the Gorilla Agreement is a law specifically designed for the conservation of gorillas.