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Western Lowland Gorrilla

Gorilla gorilla


Where is it found?

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Picture
Temperate and tropical forest

Diet and foraging method

Eats plants
Gorillas feed during the morning and afternoon, and will climb trees up to 15m in search of food.
Eats leaves and shoots.

Key adaptations

Hands are modified for 'knuckle walking', and they possess longer arms than legs which also helps. 
Thick bones help to support their large sturdy bodies. 
Opposable thumbs and hallux (big toe) allow them to grip and manipulate objects. Having thumbs also aids in tree climbing.

Social organisation and mating system

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Groups normally consist of one dominant male, several females and their young. Other males (often brothers of the dominant male) sometimes try to join the group, but females usually maintain allegiance to the dominant male.
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Polygyny

Did you know that...?

When nervous, Gorillas may 'yawn' and bear their teeth - a warning or display of aggression.
Dominant males are called 'silverbacks' as they are usually the oldest male and so hair on their back and rump has lost its colour and turned grey with age.

Taxonomy

Picture

Picture credits:

Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Gorilla port lympne1" by Dozyg - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gorilla_port_lympne1.jpg#/media/File:Gorilla_port_lympne1.jpg
"Gorilla 498" by Ltshears - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gorilla_498.jpg#/media/File:Gorilla_498.jpg

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