Editing Gorilla (section)

==Characteristics==
[[File:Gorilla Male perspective 5.jpg|thumb|left |200px |Male gorilla skull]]
Wild male gorillas weigh {{convert |136 |to |227 |kg |lb |-1 |abbr=on}}, while adult females weigh {{convert |68 |- |113 |kg |lb |-1 |abbr=on}}.<ref name=Aryan>{{Cite journal |year=2006 |last=Aryan |first=H. E. |title=Lumbar diskectomy in a human-habituated mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') |journal=Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=205–210 |doi=10.1016/j.clineuro.2004.12.011 |pmid=16412845 |s2cid=29723690}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Patricia |title=Gorillas |year=1997 |isbn=978-0919879898 |pages=64 |publisher=Weigl Educational Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSXgVKUYpvgC&pg=PA8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510210603/https://books.google.com/books?id=wSXgVKUYpvgC&pg=PA8 |archive-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> Adult males are {{convert |1.4 |to |1.8 |m |ftin |abbr=on}} tall, with an arm span that stretches from {{convert |2.3 |to |2.6 |m |ftin |abbr=on}}. Female gorillas are shorter at {{convert |1.25 |to |1.5 |m |ftin |abbr=on}}, with smaller arm spans.<ref name=Wood1979>{{Cite journal |pmid=736111 |year=1978 |last1=Wood |first1=B. A. |title=Relationship between body size and long bone lengths in ''Pan'' and ''Gorilla'' |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=23–25 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330500104}}</ref><ref name=Leigh&Shea1995>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1002/ajp.1350360104 |pmid=31924084 |title=Ontogeny and the evolution of adult body size dimorphism in apes |journal=American Journal of Primatology |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=37–60 |year=1995 |last1=Leigh |first1=S. R. |last2=Shea |first2=B. T. |s2cid=85136825}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tuttle |first=R. H. |title=Apes of the world: their social behavior, communication, mentality and ecology |year=1986 |publisher=William Andrew |isbn=978-0815511045 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/apesofworldtheir0000tutt}}</ref><ref name="Wood1983"/> [[Colin Groves]] (1970) calculated the average weight of 42 wild adult male gorillas at 144&nbsp;kg, while Smith and Jungers (1997) found the average weight of 19 wild adult male gorillas to be 169&nbsp;kg.<ref name=SmithJungers>{{Cite journal |year=1997 |last1=Smith |first1=R. J. |last2=Jungers |first2=W. L. |title=Body mass in comparative primatology |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=523–559 |doi=10.1006/jhev.1996.0122 |pmid=9210017|bibcode=1997JHumE..32..523S}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Groves |first=C. P. |date=July 1970 |title=Population systematics of the gorilla |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1970.tb04514.x |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=161 |issue=3 |pages=287–300 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1970.tb04514.x |via=Onlinelibrary}}</ref> Adult male gorillas are known as silverbacks due to the characteristic silver hair on their backs reaching to the hips. The tallest wild gorilla recorded was a {{convert |1.95 |m |ftin |abbr=on}} silverback with an arm span of {{convert |2.7 |m |abbr=on}}, a chest of {{convert |1.98 |m |abbr=on}}, and a weight of {{convert |219 |kg |abbr=on}}, shot in [[Alimbongo]], northern [[Kivu]] in May 1938.<ref name="Wood1983"/> The heaviest wild gorilla recorded was a {{convert |1.83 |m |ftin |abbr=on}} silverback shot in [[Ambam]], [[Cameroon]], which weighed {{convert |267 |kg |lb |abbr=on}}.<ref name="Wood1983">{{cite book |last=Wood |first=G. L. |title=The Guinness book of animal facts and feats |publisher=Sterling Publishing |year=1983 |isbn=978-0851122359 |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofan00wood}}</ref> The tallest gorilla in captivity was Gust, a western lowland gorilla that was captured as a baby in [[Belgian Congo]] and spent his life at [[Antwerp Zoo]]. He was {{convert |2.20|m |ftin |abbr=on}} tall. Males in captivity can be [[overweight]] and reach weights up to {{convert |310 |kg |lb |0 |abbr=on}}.<ref name="Wood1983"/>
[[File:Gorilla gorilla & Gorilla beringei.jpg|thumb |right |[[Western gorilla]] (''Gorilla gorilla'') and [[eastern gorilla]] (''Gorilla beringei'')]]
The eastern gorilla is more darkly coloured than the western gorilla, with the mountain gorilla being the darkest of all. The mountain gorilla also has the thickest hair. The western lowland gorilla can be brown or greyish with a reddish forehead. In addition, gorillas that live in lowland forest are more slender and agile than the more bulky mountain gorillas. The eastern gorilla also has a longer face and broader chest than the western gorilla.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rowe |first=N. |year=1996 |title=Pictorial guide to the living primates |location=East Hampton, NY |publisher=Pogonias Press}}</ref> Like humans, gorillas have individual fingerprints.<ref>{{cite web |title=Santa Barbara Zoo – western lowland gorilla |url=http://www.santabarbarazoo.org/showAnimals.asp?id=149 |publisher=Santa Barbara Zoo |access-date=10 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928075121/http://www.santabarbarazoo.org/showAnimals.asp?id=149 |archive-date=28 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/Facts/FactSheets/Gorillas/default.cfm |title=Gorillas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601162521/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/Facts/FactSheets/Gorillas/default.cfm |archive-date=1 June 2010 |publisher=Smithsonian National Zoological Park}}</ref>
Their eye colour is dark brown, framed by a black ring around the iris. Gorilla facial structure is described as [[mandibular prognathism]], that is, the [[mandible]] protrudes farther out than the [[maxilla]]. Adult males also have a prominent [[sagittal crest]].

Gorillas move around by [[knuckle-walking]], although they sometimes walk upright for short distances, typically while carrying food or in defensive situations. A 2018 study investigating the hand posture of 77 mountain gorillas at [[Bwindi Impenetrable National Park]] (8% of the population) found that knuckle walking was done only 60% of the time, and they also supported their weight on their fists, the backs of their hands/feet, and on their palms/soles (with the digits flexed). Such a range of hand postures was previously thought to have been used by only orangutans.<ref name="Thompson">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1002/ajpa.23404 |pmid=29344933 |title=Unexpected terrestrial hand posture diversity in wild mountain gorillas |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=166 |issue=1 |pages=84–94 |year=2018 |last1=Thompson |first1=N. E. |last2=Ostrofsky |first2=K. R. |last3=McFarlin |first3=S. C. |last4=Robbins |first4=M. M. |last5=Stoinski |first5=T. S. |last6=Almécija |first6=S. |doi-access=free}}</ref> Studies of gorilla [[handedness]] have yielded varying results, with some arguing for no preference for either hand, and others right-hand dominance for the general population.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=J. |last1=Fagot |first2=J. |last2=Vauclair |year=1988 |title=Handedness and bimanual coordination in the lowland gorilla |journal=Brain, Behavior and Evolution |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=89–95 |doi=10.1159/000116536 |pmid=3179697}}</ref>

Studies have shown gorilla blood is not reactive to anti-A and anti-B [[monoclonal antibodies]], which would, in humans, indicate [[type O blood]]. Due to novel sequences, though, it is different enough to not conform with the human [[ABO blood group system]], into which the other great apes fit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gamble |first1=K. C. |last2=Moyse |first2=J. A. |last3=Lovstad |first3=J. N. |last4=Ober |first4=C. B. |last5=Thompson |first5=E. E. |title=Blood groups in the Species Survival Plan, European Endangered Species Program, and managed ''in situ'' populations of bonobo (''Pan paniscus''), common chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), gorilla (''Gorilla'' ssp.), and orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'' ssp.) |doi=10.1002/zoo.20348 |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=427–444 |year=2011 |pmid=20853409 |pmc= 4258062 |url=http://www.orangutanssp.org/ga_blood_typing.pdf |access-date=5 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120220734/http://www.orangutanssp.org/ga_blood_typing.pdf |archive-date=20 January 2012}}</ref>

A gorilla's lifespan is normally between 35 and 40 years, although zoo gorillas may live for 50 years or more in [[Oldest hominids|rare circumstances]]. At {{age in years and days|1957|1|1}}, [[Fatou (gorilla)|Fatou]] is both the oldest living gorilla and oldest living female gorilla. The oldest male gorilla ever was [[Ozzie (gorilla)|Ozoum]], who reached to the final age of 61 years, 24 days.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Amanda |date=2022-01-26 |title=Ozzie, the world's oldest male gorilla, has died at Zoo Atlanta |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/us/ozzie-oldest-gorilla-atlanta-zoo-dies-trnd/index.html |access-date=2022-01-26 |website=CNN}}</ref> The oldest living male gorilla is Guhonda, aged {{age in years and days|1971|1|1}}.