Basic Facts About Gorillas. Closely linked by DNA, gorillas (family Hominidae) are one of the four species of great apes that are the closest living relatives of humans – the other three are chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans.
Great apes are different from monkeys for a variety of reasons: they are larger, walk upright for a longer period of time, don’t have tails and have much larger, more developed brains. There are four subspecies of gorillas: the eastern lowland or Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri); the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei); the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla); and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehl). Like all great apes, gorillas have arms that are longer than their legs and tend to walk on all four limbs at certain times – a movement that is called knuckle walking. Adult males are known as 'silverbacks' due to the distinctive silver-colored hair on their backs.
Diet. The strongest living land creatures on Earth, measured by their power to weight ratio. Where do Gorillas live? - Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe e.V. Gorillas live exclusively in the tropical rain forests of Africa.
Their distribution range is divided into two parts - almost 900 km separates the western and the eastern gorillas. The reason for this is probably that a formerly uniform area was split at some point, most likely during the ice ages. At that time, climatic changes caused the rain forest to shrink into a few refuge areas. The savannah, which spread between these refuge areas, was not an appropriate habitat for gorillas. Where do gorillas live? What do gorillas eat? And other gorilla facts. Gorilla Facts. Gorillas are large apes that are native to Africa.
They are typically divided into two groups. The mountain gorilla lives in the mountainous regions of central Africa, while the lowland gorilla lives in the flat, dense forests of central and western Africa. Though the two types are very similar, they have a few differences. For example, mountain gorillas tend to have longer hair, whereas lowland gorillas have short, soft hair, according to the Smithsonian. Another difference is size. Mountain gorillas live in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on green, volcanic mountains. Prehistoric Van Goghs: Artists Used Pointillism 38,000 Years Ago Nineteenth-century artists, such as Georges Seurat and Vincent van Gogh, weren't the first to use pointillism, according to a discovery of 38,000-year-old decorated limestone tablets in France.
What do Gorillas eat? - Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe e.V. What gorillas eat depends on what their habitat provides and on the time of the year.
Mountain gorillas mainly feed on green plant parts, whereas lowland gorillas eat a lot of fruit. However, in the dry season only a few juicy fruits are available and so the animals have to eat more seeds and tree bark instead. Usually, fruits grow on trees; gorillas of all ages climb these trees to harvest them. Although western gorillas eat a higher percentage of fruit than of leaves, stems, pith and shoots, they still eat markedly less fruit than do chimpanzees and orangutans. The food range of the western gorillas is very broad: they eat about 200 plant species. An adult Grauer's gorilla male is estimated to eat 30 kg of plants every day, an adult female about 18 kg. A study in Cameroon by Isra Deblauwe showed that gorillas have a high frequency of insect-eating and a high prey diversity, even higher than those for the sympatric chimpanzees. Diet And Eating Habits of the Mountain Gorillas.
Mountain gorillas often time feed on Foliage, about 150 various plants, whose shoots, leaves as well as stems are eaten, Gorillas like eating the shoots during the rainy season because the bamboos are tender and green.
The bamboo shoots contain 84% of water with an extra of trocatea, flowers, stems, roots, soft bamboo leaves, tsile’s leaves; urela cameronesis leaves as well as the dry season black berries that act as a delicacy for the mountain gorillas. Their feeding habits depend on the current state in a specific group. Usually gorillas have three intervals of sleep right after each feeding. If they are in an area with plenty of food, they will feed and rest for longer moments. Mountain Gorilla Breeding When it comes to reproduction, mountain gorillas are quite slow and that’s why it’s called the endangered species. Gorilla Feeding - Gorilla Facts and Information. What do Gorillas Eat?
The large body of gorillas needs abundant and adequate food to work properly. They are mostly herbivores, but instead of eating more fruits than herbs, like most monkeys and chimpanzees do, they consume more foliage and other plant parts. It is not possible to generalize the diet of all gorillas. There are two species with two subspecies each, and they all inhabit different areas. The eastern gorilla is far from its western relative, and since they live in specific regions at different altitudes, with particular vegetation in each place, the components of their diet often differ from species to species, between subspecies and even according to the season of the year. An adult gorilla is capable of consuming 18 to 20 kilograms of food every day. What Do Gorillas Eat? Feeding Habits Of A Gorilla. As far as population genetics is concerned, gorillas are considered by scientists as one of the few species of great apes that are closely related to humans.
What are great apes by the way? What are their differences with monkeys? Great apes are monkey relatives but they differ in size, posture, presence of tails and size of brains. Great apes which include gorillas are larger in size. They are able to walk upright for hours. Most of us have observed gorillas at a local zoo or watched TV shows or online videos featuring gorillas.