Gorillas Facts

Taxonomy

In 1758 Carl Linenaeus, the first serious student of classification, officially recognized the close relationship between humans, monkeys, and apes. He devised the order name Primate to encompass them all and to denote their high ranking in the animal kingdom. Man and the apes -- orangutan, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and gibbon -- are the only primates without tails and like most primates, have five digits on each hand and foot, the first of which is opposable. Anatomical features by all primates are two mammae (nipples), orbits directed forward to permit binocular vision, and, usually, a total of thirty-two teeth. (Adapted from Gorillas in the Mist, by Dian Fossey)

Gorilla Genetics

All gorillas subspecies have 48 chromosomes. Humans have only 46 chromosomes, with a very high degree of homology to gorilla chromosomes (the chromosomes look almost the same and have very similar genes). View the 48 chromosomes of a gorilla and see the comparative karyotype of the great apes provided by Dr. Mariano Rocchi at the Istituto di Genetica in Italy.

Longevity

Gorillas in the wild normally live to age 30 or 35, but they can survive years longer in a zoo, with veterinary care and protection from predators. Still, of the roughly 360 gorillas in North American zoos, only four were older than 50 as of spring 2008.

The oldest gorilla in captivity, a 55-year-old female named Jenny, died at the Dallas Zoo, her home for more than half a century (Sept 2008). Read more

The Philadelphia Zoo's Massa set the longevity record of 54 years at the time of his death.

A male gorilla named "Bul Bul" lived to 44 years of age at the Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo.

According to the International Species Information System, the oldest living gorilla is now Colo, a 51-year-old female at the Columbus Zoo who was the first gorilla born in captivity.

Reproduction

Gorillas reach sexually maturity at around 11-13 years for males (silverback) and 10 years for females in the wild.

Gorillas give birth after eight-and-a-half months of gestation (257 days). Human pregnancies usually last about nine months (265 days).

Typically gorillas have only a single offspring.

Yes, the first gorilla born as a result of artificial insemmination was born at the Colombus Zoo in 1995.

A newborn gorilla weighs only 4 to 5 pounds.

Newborn western gorillas weigh between 1.396 and 3.058 g (2.200 g on average), compared to 3.300 g in humans. This means that while adult females and males weigh approximately twice and three times as much as average humans, their newborn babies are only two thirds the weight of newborn humans. (source: Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe)

Gorilla Information

Yes, several sites featuring gorilla photos and information are available on the Gorilla Links page.
    http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/gorillas/info/links.html

The International Gorilla Conservation Programme website that includes information on gorilla research and conservation efforts is certainly worth a visit.
    http://www.mountaingorillas.org/

The Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe website has good information, including many interesting Questions and Answers.
    http://www.berggorilla.de/english/frame.html

A list of gorilla articles and books is available In the Gorilla References section of this Web site.

Yes, here are a few interesting books that are certainly worth reading:

Gorillas in the Mist, by Dian Fossey
A remarkable woman's thirteen-year adventure in remote African rain forests with the greatest of the great apes.

Gorilla Pictures

The Gorilla Gallery contains photos of lowland and mountain gorillas.
View the Gorilla Gallery