The Gorilla 's Life Cycle

A few weeks ago, I spent a lovely Monday afternoon observing two different primates at the Santa Ana Zoo. I got to the zoo around two in the afternoon, and to my surprise, the zoo was decently crowded. The Santa Ana Zoo is smaller in comparison to other zoos like the Los Angeles Zoo, but still had a decent amount of animals there. Covering a small 20 acres of land, I came across two primates that fit perfectly for the purposes of this course project. I chose to observe an endangered ape, the white-handed gibbon, and an endangered new world monkey, the golden-headed lion tamarin.

-Bonobo’s display a varied degree of sexual dimorphism, which is a characteristic specific to either male or female sex. When comparing the two sexes, males are more muscular and hold an average weight of 95 pounds compared to an average of 82 pounds and a slighter built female, a 15 percent weight difference between them.  Sexual dimorphism is also apparent in that males possess a unique dental trait, long canines, a feature that females lack.  Both sexes are similar in that neither has a height advantage, averaging 2.3 to 3 feet in height. (Waal 24)  Bonobo’s possess long, fine black hair covering most of the body and black colored hands and feet.  Their black faces feature wide, thick walled nostrils and long black facial hair that often covers their small ears.  Their head hair

The anatomical characteristics that make this species a primate is its anatomical traits. The bonobo monkey has many traits to help specify them as a primate. The one of many characteristics of the monkey is the stock of its body. The Bonobos are quadrupeds and walk on all four limbs, although there is a variation of how they use their limbs, this helps define them and categorize them as a primate. Their grasping hands with opposable thumbs or big toes help scientist and other who research this species categorize them as primates. One very noticeable characteristic of the Bonobo is their face. Their eyes are on the front of their skull. They have forward-facing eyes with stereoscopic vision which place them in the category of primates. Another characteristic that came up while reading was the enclosed

Gorillas are the largest group of primates and although they are known as being bipedal, similar to humans and other primates, they often use knuckle walking to move around. On observation, they have seems to have a more robust front appearance than their hind legs and behind. Their cranium is taller than other primates and lower mandible more protruding than their snout. They also have human-like ears that are parallel to their eyes and are small in size. They have

I have finally came to a very difficult decision of choosing the new mascot for our school. I have chose the Lowland Gorillas. In the two following paragraphs I will explain my decision of choosing the Gorillas and also why I think they are the best option. We would need a mascot that is tough and dangerous and will crush the enemy. I feel like the gorilla is our best option for that.

The theory was that gorillas were just one species, but gradually changed as they spread and adapted to different habitats. Gorillas are non-territorial and live in groups called “troops” or “bands” that usually consist of one to four adult males, a few females, and their young. When the young matures, they go off and join or form another troop. The oldest and strongest adult males are called silverbacks, which are dominant in the troop. They were given this name because of the known silver-colored hair on their backs. This silver-colored hair is developed through maturity of the gorilla, you can usually begin to see this when the male is over 12 years of age. Silverbacks are more aggressive than any other group member, since the troops’ safety is their responsibility. Even when resources are limited the male receives the dominant portion of the food. The Silverback makes all the groups

I observed a type of Ape known as the Western Lowland Gorilla. The scientific name for a Gorilla is the Gorilla gorilla. Gorillas are the largest of all living primates and at native to west central Africa. Gorillas exhibit sexual dimorphism within their species because males are very obviously much larger than females. The size of the gorillas came across very intimating and gave me an off impression of what this specie was actually going to be like. While observing the gorillas I noticed that these creatures are very slow, lethargic primates. Gorillas move quadrupedally by putting weight down on their arms and knuckles as they walk. They have hands and opposable thumbs, like humans, and are able to grasp things with a better grip. When Gorillas need to reach above themselves such as for leaves or branches they are able to stand on both legs while reaching. While resting Gorillas sit on their bottoms, legs to the side in a similar position that humans do. When resting I noticed that sometimes Gorillas like to take advantage of the moment by self grooming, using their hands. Gorillas usually have an herbivore diet but eat occasional insects. Due to their large body structure it is harder for them move around quickly so they do not need to eat foods that contain as much nutrients and proteins as smaller,

These groups consist of on average 9.2 individuals. In normal circumstances there is usually one adult male, more than one is possible, multiple adult females, and all of their offspring. Females tend to practice natal dispersal, it is much more common for females to practice this than it is for males. Females will emigrate from their home groups and find a new group to avoid inbreeding. They don't always stay in the group they emigrate to their whole lives, a second move isn't uncommon. Males will either remain in the group they were born into or they'll disperse. Young males that remain in their natal groups will be subordinates to the silverbacks. The silverback is the dominant male of the group. Subordinates may have the opportunity to mate with new females or become the dominant silverback if the previous one dies. On the other hand mountain gorilla males could leave their natal groups and become solitary, They will then attract other emigrating females to start a new social group. In groups that contain only one silverback male, females will disperse and find new social groups if that death silverback were to die.

The low land gorillas have unique and specific physical traits. They seem to be less than five feet in height. The female gorillas have faint silver back compared to the male gorillas that have a more distinguishing silver back. Both male and female gorillas have black hair all around their body, except the head which is brown, and their backs. Their hands, legs and arms seem to be large and out of proportion compared to their body. Their toes are as long as their fingers. The female gorillas have saggy long breasts. The saggy breasts can help them maneuver around their environment or help feed their young. One specific gorilla squeezed small drops of milk from her breasts onto her fingers and tasted it. She did it naturally and carefully almost as if she was checking to see if the milk was safe to drink for her baby or maybe, she got bored. They use their hands and feet to grip onto vines and trees and pull themselves up. The gorilla’s strong knuckles help support their upper body, which holds most of their weight. The males are heavier and have a distinctive head shape called a sagittal crest, but one of the females had a slight crest as well.

What to expect when challenging the silverback: Standing Upright Throwing things Agressively charging Roaring or barking powerful hoots while banging on chest Mountain Gorillas are normally calm and non agressive unless distubed. Physical Appearance Have longer hair Have shorter arms Tend to be a bit larger than normal gorillas Average height is 1.25-1.75 meters Max height is 2 meters Average weight is 135- 220 kiligrams Max weight is 272.155 kilograms Social Behaviors Ususally found in groups of 30 individuals Groups are called troops Led by a domiant, called a silverback Found in Congo SilverBack (THE LEADER) Called Silverback because of a swath of silver fur on thier back Organizes things like Eating Nesting Moving about the 2- 40 square

For the Orangutan in the zoo each enclosure they had a total of three orangutan in each pen, most were all adults, except one which was a young juvenile. As well as it is appear to be that none of these orangutan are a part of a subgroup because some, if not all isolated themselves from others. In which is very common according to Lang C. (2005), "Adult males and independent adolescents of both sexes range alone while adult females range with their dependent and weaned offspring" (Primate Factsheet pongo, para. 1). So the zoo's orangutan act very similar to the wild ones. Next the differences is how are they physically built between in each others. For the orangutan, if they are standing they are about 5 feet tall, however including arm and leg span due to how they are built to climb and swing to places their body size will be seven feet tall. Another difference was that they had no tail due to they ancestors evolution to who they are now, which remove the chance of having the ability to have a prehensile tail in the process. The last physically difference is their hands. They have all fingers and thumbs, but they don't use their thumbs to grab; they use mostly their fingers to grasp objects. Which make them who they are

Thus, I was able to observe some similarities among these species. The way the female chimp used tools, and her fingers to grab food, how she used to be on her feet, freeing her hands, groom her child, educate her offspring, sleep with him while snuggling, use a lot of face emotions to convey a message to an individual; she smiled at her baby, laughed when playing, and tickling him, remind me of human. She also has a flat pink face, hands’ palm, and feet sole as humans do. Furthermore, the gorilla was also really human when he protected his eyes from the intense sunrays, following the movement of the sun, and sat in the shade, mated with a female, scratched his head, and bottom, and put his finger in his nose. I think that these humans’ pattern appeared for similar reasons as in the Primates. For instance, when the gorilla scratches his bottom, it is because the area is itchy, and he wants to remove what is indisposing him. In addition, the mother chimp educates her kid to transmit knowledge throughout generation, which is the same for humans, who go to school.

At about age 10, mountain gorillas reach sexual maturity and are able to have their own offspring. Females have one infant at a time and have a pregnancy period of 9 months. There are only 3 days each month that female mountain gorillas can conceive. After a female gorilla`s first ovulatory cycle, they have to wait at least 2 years before they

Gorillas are similar to humans in many different ways, such as sadness and laughter and also have hands just like a human. Some gorillas even know sign language when speaking to one another. They show over 20 known sounds, and other gorillas recognize them. It takes a very long time to build their trust as well. “Their DNA is 98.3% identical to a humans.” (Lewis, et.al, 2008) Reproduction for gorillas is also another feature just like humans, it is a slow procedure. It takes about 8 and a half months for a single gorilla to be produced, even though the process is slow the growing of a young gorilla is more rapid than a humans. They raise the infant gorilla for several years before giving birth to another baby. As many as 40% do not survive after birth. Male infants usually splits from the parents due to the lack of breeding chances.

They have very long arms, which are even longer than their legs (Enchanted Learning, 1999). Gibbons have a very skinny body and do not have a tail (Enchanted Learning, 1999, National Geographic, 2014). Their body is covered with hair that is anywhere from light-colored to a very dark brown (Enchanted Learning, 1999). Their face, however, is hairless, and they have dark eyes and very small nostrils (Enchanted Learning, 1999). Gibbons have four fingers plus a small opposable thumb on each hand (Enchanted Learning, 1999). They have four toes and an opposable big thumb on each foot as well (Enchanted Learning, 1999). Male gibbons are usually about three feet and fifteen pounds which is a little bigger than female gibbons (Enchanted Learning,