Mountain Gorilla Characteristics: Physical Appearance & Size
This page describes the Mountain Gorilla Characteristics and the Physical Appearances of gorillas.
The unusual physical characteristics of mountain gorillas are the subject of several important facts about them. A huge and impressive-looking primate, the mountain gorilla. An adult male will normally weigh between 265 and 421 pounds (120-191 kilograms), stand at around 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 meters) on his hind legs, and have an arm spread between 6 feet 7 inches and 8 feet 10 inches (2-2.7 meters). Mountain gorillas are sexually dimorphic, meaning that males and females have differing physical characteristics. Females weigh between 154 and 216 pounds (70 and 98 kilograms), while males only have silver hair on their backs.
Mountain Gorilla Characteristics
The Physical Characteristics of Mountain Gorilla
Mountain gorillas have dark brown eyes with a black ring around the iris, same like other gorilla species. One way all gorillas may be easily distinguished from other apes is by the strong bony crest that adults, both males and females, acquire at the top of their skulls, which gives their heads a characteristic cone or dome form. The crest serves as a support for the gorilla’s extraordinarily strong jaw muscles. Mountain gorillas walk on all fours, much like other gorillas and their relatives the chimpanzees and orangutans do. This is possible because their arms are longer than their legs. They don’t use their palms to support themselves when doing this; instead, they use their knuckles.
All living primates, with the exception of humans, have opposable big toes, which allow the feet to grasp objects just like the hands and are a crucial tool for climbing trees. Mountain gorillas, especially adult males, prefer to spend their time on the ground due to their massive stature, although they can and do climb trees whose branches can hold their weight in order to gather fruit and other resources. The average lifespan of a mountain gorilla is 35 to 40 years.
The ”Silverback” Mountain Gorilla
Adult male mountain gorillas grow silvery-gray fur on their backs, hips, and legs, just like other gorilla species. This begins to appear when a gorilla is around 11 or 12, along with other maturational characteristics including particularly scruffy hair on the arms. Male gorillas in their adulthood are referred to as silverbacks as a result. As was already noted, only male gorillas experience this. It is certain that a fully developed gorilla with silver-free fur is a female.