Taxonomy
What is a primate?
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
How many chromosomes do gorillas have?
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
How long do gorillas live?
In the wild, gorillas live to between 20 and 35 years. The oldest animal that we know of in the wild died at 35 years of age. Gorillas can live over 50 years in zoos.
How old was the oldest gorillas that ever lived?
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.
Who the oldest gorilla in the world?
Rudy, a western lowland gorilla at the Erie Zoo in Pennsylvania, turned
49 years old in January, 2005. Rudy is believed to be the oldest
captive lowland gorilla in the world, according to the International
Species Information System, which keeps records on captive animals.
Reproduction
When are gorillas sexually mature?
Gorillas reach sexually maturity at around 11-13 years for males (silverback) and 10 years for females in the wild.
What is the gestation period of a gorilla?
Gorillas give birth after eight-and-a-half months of gestation (257 days). Human pregnancies usually
last about nine months (265 days).
How many offspring do gorillas give birth to?
Typically gorillas have only a single offspring.
Have any gorillas been born by artificial means?
Yes, the first gorilla born as a result of artificial insemmination was born at the
Colombus Zoo in 1995.
How much does a newborn gorilla weigh?
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
Are there any other gorillas sites with good information?
Do you have a list of gorilla references?
A list of gorilla articles and books is available In the Gorilla References
section of this Web site.
Are there any books about gorillas that you would recommend?
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.
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