Females begin breeding as soon as they are sexually mature, but male gorillas need to physically mature so they can attain silverback status and lead a group of gorillas. Males are sexually mature at about 10 years of age and fully grown at 12 - 15 years. The face, ears, palms and soles of the feet are bare.įemales mature sexually around 8 years of age and are fully grown at 8 - 10 years of age. As a male gorilla reaches physical maturity (between 12 and 15 years of age), he develops his silvery grey colouration giving them the name “silverback”. The colour of the coat varies considerably, ranging from black, silver and shades of red. The muscular arms are longer than the short thick legs, and the broad hands are equipped with short fingers and thumbs. The nostrils are large and flaring, the ears small and close to the head, the eyes are wide set and expressive. The heavy muscled head and shoulder area of the adult male is what really identifies him in the wild from the female when only the head is showing. The male’s crest is more prominent than the female’s. Gorillas develop a “sagittal crest” which is a ridge of bone on top of their head. The females are much smaller and slimmer. The male is very stocky and powerful in the body, with wide shoulders and chest. The males, on average, weigh approximately 135 - 220 kg and the females weigh about half of that, around 70 - 90 kg. Western lowland gorillas are the smallest of the four sub-species. Gorillas are the largest of the primates. The western gorilla subspecies are the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). The eastern gorilla subspecies are the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) and the eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri). Within each species there are two subspecies. There are two species of gorilla: the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei).
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