Use the links on the
right to find out more about gorillas.
Until recently it was considered that
there was only one species of gorilla (Gorilla gorilla),
divided into three subspecies that live in different
parts of Africa, the Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla
gorilla gorilla), the Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla
gorilla graueri) and the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla
gorilla beringei). However, recent DNA evidence has
led to the recognition of the eastern and western populations
as separate full species classified as Gorilla beringei
and Gorilla gorilla respectively. The two mountain
populations, one in the Virunga Volcanoes area on the
border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Rwanda and the other in the Bwindi National Park in
Uganda, belong to the Eastern group which changes their
classification to Gorilla beringei beringei.
 After chimpanzees, gorillas are our closest relatives
and share about 97.7% of our DNA. Mountain gorillas
are the largest living primates, an adult male weighing
up to 180 kilograms (400 pounds), with an arm span
of about two metres (seven feet).They have longer,
thicker fur than Lowland gorillas and a slightly different
nose shape among other skeletal differences.
Use the links on the right to find out more about gorillas. |
|
- 