Gorillas

Gorillas are the largest extant genus of primates. They are

ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the

forests of central Africa. Gorillas comprise one eponymous

genus that is divided into two species and either four or five

subspecies. The DNA of gorillas is highly similar to that of a

human, from 95–99% depending on what is counted, and they

are the next closest living relatives to humans after the bonobo

and common chimpanzee.
Gorillas' natural habitats cover tropical or subtropical forests in

Africa. Although their range covers a small percentage of Africa,

gorillas cover a wide range of elevations. The mountain gorilla

inhabits the Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga

Volcanoes, ranging in altitude from 2,200–4,300 metres

(7,200–14,100 ft). Lowland gorillas live in dense forests and

lowland swamps and marshes as low as sea level, with western

lowland gorillas living in Central West African countries and

eastern lowland gorillas living in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo near its border with Rwanda.

Etymology

The American physician and missionary Thomas Staughton

Savage and naturalist Jeffries Wyman first described the

western gorilla (they called it Troglodytes gorilla) in 1847 from

specimens obtained in Liberia.The name was derived from

Greek Γόριλλαι (Gorillai), meaning "tribe of hairy women.

described by Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian navigator and

possible visitor (circa 480 BC) to the area that later became

Sierra Leone.