Gorilla

From Free net encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 18:25, 21 April 2006
Gwernol (Talk | contribs)
Revert to revision 49472492 using [[:en:Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups|popups]]
Next diff →

Current revision

Template:Alternateuses {{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Gorillas<ref name=MSW3>Template:MSW3 Groves</ref> | image = LowlandGorilla.PD.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Eastern Lowland Gorilla
(Gorilla beringei graueri) | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Primates | familia = Hominidae | genus = Gorilla | genus_authority = I. Geoffroy, 1852 | type_species = Troglodytes gorilla | type_species_authority = Savage, 1847 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Gorilla gorilla
Gorilla beringei }}

The gorilla, the largest of the primates, is a ground-dwelling herbivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and (under debate as of 2006) either four or five subspecies. With 92-98% of its DNA being identical to that of a human, it is the second closest living relative to humans after the two chimpanzee species. Template:Citeneeded

1 Physical characteristics
2 Classification
3 Behavior
4 Intelligence
- 4.1 Natural tool use by all the "great apes"
5 Gorillas in pop culture
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit]

Physical characteristics

Gorillas move about by knuckle-walking. Adult males range in height from 1.65 m to 1.75 m (5.4 to 5.7 feet), and in weight from 140 kg to 165 kg (305 to 360 pounds). Females are about half the weight of males. Gorillas have a facial structure often described as prognathous, that is, their mandible protrudes further out than the maxilla.

Gestation is 8½ months. There are typically 3–4 years between births. Infants stay with their mothers for 3–4 years. Females mature at 10–12 years (earlier in captivity); males 11–13 years. Lifespan is between 30–50 years. The Philadelphia Zoo's Massa set the longevity record of 54 years at the time of his death.

Gorillas are mainly vegetarian, eating fruits, leaves, and shoots. Insects make up 1-2% of their diet. Due to their diet of plant life, gorillas often have bloated stomachs.

Almost all gorillas share the same blood type, B.

Gorillas are renowned for their strength, but no research has been conducted into how strong they are compared to humans. This is due to the difficulty in measuring strength quantitatively, and how to gauge what qualifies as feats of strength. Most human based tests of strength such as bench pressing, also require a degree of skill involved. As such, it would be possible for a human to perform better than a gorilla if the gorilla cooperated in the excercise in the first place, but the test would not be an acurate measure of comparitive strength.

[edit]

Classification

Until recently there were considered to be three species of gorilla, The Western Lowland, The Eastern Lowland and Mountain Gorilla. There is now agreement that the gorilla is divided into two species of at least two subspecies each. More recently it has been claimed that a third subspecies exists in one of these groups.

Image:Bristol.zoo.western.lowland.gorilla.arp.jpg

Primatologists continue to explore the relationships between various gorilla populations.<ref name=Groves2002>Template:Cite journal</ref> The species and subspecies listed here are the ones most scientists agree upon.<ref name=MSW3/>

Genus Gorilla <ref name=MSW3/>
- Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)
  - Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
  - Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)
- Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei)
  - Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
  - Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri)

The proposed third subspecies of Gorilla beringei, which has not yet received a full latin designation, is the Bwindi population of the Mountain Gorilla, sometimes called Bwindi Gorilla.

Both species of gorilla are endangered, and have been subject to intense poaching for a long time. Threats to gorilla survival include habitat destruction and the bushmeat trade.

[edit]

Behavior

Image:Male silverback Gorilla.JPG Image:Gorilla-kiktajm.png A silverback is an adult male gorilla, typically more than 12 years of age and named for the distinctive patch of silver hair on his back. A silverback gorilla has large canines that come with maturity. Blackbacks are sexually mature males of up to 11 years of age.

Silverbacks are the strong, dominant troop leaders. Each typically leads a troop of 5 to 30 gorillas and is the center of the troop's attention, making all the decisions, mediating conflicts, determining the movements of the group, leading the others to feeding sites and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of the troop.

Males will slowly begin to leave their original troop when they are about 11 years old, travelling alone or with a group of other males for 2–5 years before being able to attract females to form a new group and start breeding. While infant gorillas normally stay with their mother for 3–4 years, silverbacks will care for weaned young orphans, though never to the extent of carrying them.

If challenged by a younger or even by an outsider male, a silverback will scream, beat his chest, break branches, bare his teeth, then charge forward. Sometimes a younger male in the group can take over leadership from an old male. If the leader is killed by disease, accident, fighting or poachers, the group will split up, as animals disperse to look for a new protective male. Very occasionally, a group might be taken over in its entirety by another male. There is a strong risk that the new male may kill the infants of the dead silverback.

[edit]

Intelligence

Gorillas are closely related to humans and are considered highly intelligent. A few individuals in captivity, such as Koko, have been taught a subset of sign language (see animal language for a discussion).

[edit]

Natural tool use by all the "great apes"

Image:Gorrila tool use-Efi.jpg The following observations were made by a team led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society in September 2005. Gorillas are now known to use tools in the wild. A female gorilla in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo was recorded using a stick as if to gauge the depth of water whilst crossing a swamp. A second female was seen using a tree stump as a bridge and also as a support whilst fishing in the swamp. This means that all of the great apes are now known to use tools.<ref>Template:Cite journal}}</ref>

In September of 2005, a two and a half year old gorilla in the Republic of Congo was discovered using rocks to smash open palm nuts. While this was the first such observation for a gorilla, over forty years previously chimpanzees had been seen using tools in the wild, famously 'fishing' for termites. Other animals also use tools, e.g. sea otters use rocks on their chests to break sea urchins. It is a common tale among native peoples that gorillas have used rocks and sticks to thwart predators, even rebuking large mammals.Template:Cite needed Great apes are endowed with a semi-precision grip, and certainly have been able to use both simple tools and even weapons, by improvising a club from a convenient fallen branch. With training, in 20th Century carnival and circus acts , chimpanzees have been taught to operate simple motorbikes. A baboon in South Africa operated a remotely located railroad switch, to help his companion, a disabled rural rail junction master.

[edit]

Gorillas in pop culture

Template:Main Giant gorillas have been a recurring theme in film since the 1930s. Following their popularity in the 1930s and 40s, most notably in the films King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, gorillas came to be heavily featured in comic books. Short contrived gorilla plots where often included so that they could appear on the cover to boost sales.

Gorilla suits are an eternally popular gag costume, appearing in large numbers of TV shows since the 1950s. A number of sports teams have a gorilla as a mascot usually personified by an actor in a gorilla suit.

[edit]