Hello friends, today's episode is dedicated to the largest apes on the planet.
We will take a detailed look at who gorillas are, where they live, their habits and life,
and most importantly, why gorillas are so strong.
If you like the video, be sure to like it and subscribe to the channel!
And here we go, let's go!
Gorillas are considered the largest primates in the world.
They are classified as humanoid, along with orangutans and chimpanzees, as the closest
species to humans.
Gorillas are indeed extremely similar to us in habits and behavior, appearance, and they
are also quite intelligent.
However, unlike humans, both female and male gorillas have extremely developed muscles,
making even experienced bodybuilders envious.
And before we proceed directly to the solution of the mystery, let's first get acquainted
with these amazing animals up close.
What are the peculiarities of gorillas?
Gorillas are very large monkeys, their height can reach 180 cm.
If compared to males of the same height, male gorillas look much more powerful - the width
of their shoulders is about one meter and their weight is 150-200 kg.
The muscular strength of their upper limbs exceeds that of human arms by an average of
6-8 times.
The torso, in contrast to the elongated human, is closer to a square shape, limbs are long,
palms and feet are wide.
Strongly protruding powerful jaws.
The head is large, with a characteristic leathery thickening in its upper part.
The eyes are set close and the forehead low.
The gorilla has a powerful digestive system because it has to digest a lot of plant food,
so its belly is wider than its chest.
Almost the entire body is covered with long hair.
If it is brown on the cubs, it darkens over time, until it becomes almost black.
After puberty, males have a silvery streak on their backs.
With age, the hair on the back falls out altogether.
It may seem that the thick wool all over the body may disturb gorillas in the climate they
live in, but at nights the temperature is sometimes rather cool - up to 13-15°С, and
in such conditions the fur helps them not to be cold.
Males are distinguished by a more powerful occiput, due to which the hair on the crown
sticks out.
But this is almost the end of the external differences; otherwise, females and males
look almost the same, the only difference being in size - males are noticeably larger.
Western and eastern gorillas differ - the former are somewhat smaller and their fur
is lighter.
Male western gorillas are about 150-170 cm long and weigh 130-160 kg, while females are
120-140 cm and 60-80 kg respectively.
Where do gorillas live?
The habitats of western and eastern gorillas are separated.
The former live mainly in Gabon, Cameroon and Congo, near the west African coast.
They also inhabit some neighboring countries, but in much smaller numbers.
Eastern gorillas inhabit two subpopulations, the Virunga Mountains and Bwindi National
Park.
According to genetic data, the populations separated a million years ago, but they have
continued to interbreed occasionally for a long time after that.
As a result, the species is still genetically close - they separated completely no more
than 100,000 years ago.
This is thought to be due to a large inland lake that appeared in Africa at the time.
Gorillas prefer lowland rainforests and swampy areas.
It is important that the habitat and surrounding land be rich in grass and trees, because they
require a lot of food, especially since they settle in rather large groups.
This is presumably why they did not repopulate most of the Congo, and why the western and
eastern populations were completely torn apart: these forests were heavily shaded and the
grass growing there was rather small, not enough for sustenance.
Do gorillas have enemies?
Gorillas have no enemies in nature - they are large and strong enough that most other
animals would not even think of attacking them.
In addition, they stick together, which discourages even large predators from attacking them.
Gorillas are not aggressive and do not make enemies because of their habits; they peacefully
graze nearby ungulate herbivores that are not afraid of them.
And this is another factor that ensures their safety: the latter are much more attractive
targets for predators.
Conflicts between gorillas themselves are quite rare.
Their main enemy is man.
The inhabitants of areas inhabited by gorillas were not hunting them, but after Europeans
appeared in these lands, gorillas were hunted - both by the colonizers and local residents.
The gorillas began to fetch handsome sums of money and were caught for zoological collections
and zoos.
Gorilla feet became a fashionable souvenir of the rich.
Why are gorillas so strong?
Reason 1.
Body structure.
The torso of gorillas is square rather than elongated, their limbs are long and muscular,
and their palms and feet are wide.
These animals can also walk on two legs, but prefer to walk on four.
The front limbs of these monkeys are very long, which helps them move around in trees.
Evolutionarily, this is one of the reasons primates have such an advanced musculature.
They are in constant motion, and their foreleg muscles are under much greater strain.
Reason 2.
Food Many sports enthusiasts don't understand why
herbivorous mammals are able to reach a size of 2 m and 170 kg of pure muscle mass.
The secret to gorillas is simple - they eat grass, fruit and celery, and these foods are
high in protein.
In addition, do not imagine gorillas as natural vegetarians, because they are happy to consume
meat on occasion.
Reason 3.
Muscle Structure Recently, scientists have found a difference
in the muscle structure of primates and humans.
It has been determined that humans are weaker than apes because of the difference in nervous
systems.
In us, it exerts greater control over the force of muscle contraction, but prevents
powerful muscle contractions.
At the same time, primates, including gorillas, cannot make movements that require precision
and clarity.
As a result, they often use their muscles to move more than the situation requires.
Humans, on the other hand, can save and conserve energy, and have greater stamina.
That is, our brain acts as a fuse that prevents us from damaging our muscular system.
In monkeys, this function is less pronounced.
Reason 4.
Evolution Muscle tissue is built in such a way that
it tends to atrophy in the absence of physical activity.
Anyone who has worked out at the gym knows that even a month's interruption can negate
all work.
Over the centuries of the human species, we have become much weaker because we lack the
need for physical survival.
Gorillas, on the other hand, living in the wild, use their muscles constantly for protection,
foraging for food and fighting for females, so they do not evolutionarily atrophy.
Thus an adult gorilla can grow up to 2 meters tall on its hind legs and can weigh up to
200 kilograms.
Much of this weight is muscle, which is built up due to the high protein content in the
food of these primates.
Gorillas are the most muscular animals in the world, they have distinct muscle relief,
strong hands and can be 12 times stronger than humans.
In this video, you and I fully understand who gorillas are, what they look like, what
their features are, their habitat, and why they are so strong.
If you liked the video, then put a "like" and subscribe to the channel!
Thanks for the attention, see you in the next videos!