Although their range covers a small percentage of Sub-Saharan Africa, gorillas cover a wide range of elevations. Gorillas' natural habitats cover tropical or subtropical forest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gorillas tend to live 35–40 years in the wild. The Eastern gorilla is distinguished from the Western by darker fur colour and some other minor morphological differences. They tend to live in troops, with the leader being called a silverback. Gorillas are the largest living primates, reaching heights between 1.25 and 1.8 metres, weights between 100 and 270 kg, and arm spans up to 2.6 metres, depending on species and sex. The DNA of gorillas is highly similar to that of humans, from 95 to 99% depending on what is included, and they are the next closest living relatives to humans after chimpanzees and bonobos. The genus Gorilla is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five subspecies. Say what you will about animal penises but they’re a perfect example of how fascinating, diverse, and maybe a bit weird, nature truly is.Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The more complex penises belong to primates like bushbabies and lemurs, who mate with many partners in their lifetime. Primates with simpler penises tend to be monogamous (only have one partner) or polygynous (mate with only a few partners). We are the only primate without a bone in the penis and have a relatively more simple structure. The size and shape of penises in primates vary too and compared to other animals, the human penis is actually rather dull. In fact, humans have a proportionately large penis size compared to their body size – but length is not everything (am I right?). The largest gorilla will only have a penis that is two and half inches long when erect. However, the penis size of many primates is much compared to the testes. To put that into perspective, a human’s testis is only 50 grams, so chimps have a testis that is 3 times that! This is a third of the size of its brain. To accommodate this increased level of sperm production, the chimpanzee’s testis is relatively large, at a weight of 150 to 170 grams. The more sperm produced, the more likely it is that the female’s offspring will have that chimp’s DNA (which is the main goal in all primates, and indeed many animals). This results in sperm competition whereby each of the males need to produce lots of sperm to outcompete the other males. What’s more, each of these females are only fertile about once or twice every four years! So, a large penis is not exactly necessary.Ĭhimpanzees are pretty promiscuous creatures with several males mating with one female whilst she is fertile. Silverback males own a group of three-four females, known as a harem, who are constantly either pregnant or breastfeeding. Whilst this may seem surprising, gorillas don’t need massive genitals given the sexual dynamics of this species. Did you know that male silverback gorillas weigh around 250 kilograms, but their penis and testes are only 10 grams? That’s equivalent to a vending machine having a testis the weight of 10 paperclips.
0 kommentar(er)
