Figure 1. Adult male gorilla, Denver Zoo, 2009
Figure 2. Hand of a female gorilla, napping at the Denver Zoo.
While I doubt gorillas have ever wished they had our hairless,
fragile bodies I'm have to be suffering with major thumb envy!
While I doubt gorillas have ever wished they had our hairless,
fragile bodies I'm have to be suffering with major thumb envy!
Gorillas are comprised of two species: Western Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and Eastern Gorillas (G. beringei), which each include 2+ subspecies. Gorillas are endemic to Africa, with the Westerns being the more populous of the two at about 95,000 individuals. Just to confuse the common names a bit, the most numerous subspecies within each species is the "Lowland" subspecies... let me clarify.
Western Gorillas include two subspecies: the nominate Western Lowland Gorilla (~95,000), and the critically endangered (~300) Cross River Gorilla (G. g. diehli) which lives along the border regions of Nigeria and Cameroon -- the most northerly part of the Western Gorillas' range (see map below, also click Terrain View for topological details). The site www.crossrivergorilla.org has additional information on this subspecies.
Figure 3: Range of the Western (orange) and Eastern (yellow) species of Gorillas.
The Cross River Gorilla population is the northern most orange dot on the map.
The Eastern Gorilla is also currently split into two subspecies: the more common (~5000) Eastern Lowland Gorilla (G. b. graueri) and the much less common (~700) Mountain Gorilla (G. b. beringei) which itself may actually consist of two separate subspecies.
How related are humans and gorillas?
As I've mentioned previously, most people have only a foggy understanding of our kinship with other primates, and know little of our place among our closest group of related species, the great apes.Most know our closest living relative is the Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), which would make the Bonobo (Pan paniscus) our second closest relative. Perhaps less widely known is the fact that from the chimps perspective, they are more closely related to humans than they are to our third closest relatives, the gorillas.
Once thought to only include Homo sapiens, the family Homonidae now also includes chimps, gorillas and the orangutan making us every bit as much great apes as they are. To clarify where the orangutans fit in, within Homonidae, there are to subfamilies: Homininae, the one we and the chimps share with gorillas, and Ponginae, the one occupied by only by the orangs.
I'll leave you to work your way up the primate taxonomic tree from there. Our superfamily (Hominiodea) is made up of the great apes mentioned above along with the lesser apes comprised of the 4 genera (~13 species) of Gibbons. Next come our cousins the old world monkeys, then the new world monkeys, then the 9 or so species of tarsiers, and so on down the branches of the tree of life.
Footnote: If you haven't already seen it, do check out the video embedded in my recent post and see if you maybe notice how some of that which makes us so uniquely human, perhaps isn't so unique after all.
2 comments:
Thanks for the interesting and informative post. However, chimps and bonobos are equally closely related to us. They are both our first cousins.
STOP CRYING DAY AND NIGHT. USA | NEW ZEALAND | INDIA | UK | NETHERLANDS | NORWAY | DENMARK | CANADA | PHILIPPINE | AUSTRALIA | SOUTH AFRICA | NAMIBIA CALL DR.PROF REMMY +27660670249, FROM ZANZIBAR HAS COME TO WASH AWAY YOUR TEARS & SORROWS DR.PROF REMMY +27660670249 is the one who has the special gift of prophecy by using full power to perform great and wonderful miracles in many people's lives having testimony. He has come full power to prophecies and things to happen in his life by using the full power ring. -Are you there with bank debts? -Do you want to see miracles of money multiplication? -You want promotion / favor at work? -You want to attract customers in your business? -Do you want to start a business but money is not enough? -Do you have financial problems? -Do you have relationship / marriage problems? -Are you impotent? -They cast spells on you? -Do you want to be in luxurious life? -Your business become stagnant? -Did you fail to receive your pension? -Is your kids performing bad in class? -Are you looking for a job? -Do you need any special powers? call on this number / whatsapp to order your full power ring ?? DR.PROF REMMY +27660670249 call on this number / whatsapp to order your full power ring ?? DR.PROF REMMY +27660670249 call on this number / whatsapp to order your full power ring ?? +DR.PROF REMMY +27660670249
Post a Comment