Gorilla gorilla (Savage, 1847)

“Gorilla gorilla” redirects here. Not to be confused with Gorilla gorilla gorilla. The western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is a great ape found in Africa, one of two species of the hominid genus Gorilla. Large and robust with males weighing around 168 kilograms (370 lb), the species is found in a region of midwest Africa, geographically isolated from the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). The hair of the western species is significantly lighter in color.

Western gorillas are generally lighter colored than eastern gorillas. Western gorillas have black, dark grey or dark brown-grey hair with a brownish forehead. Males average 167 cm (5 ft 5.7 in) although reaching a height up to 176 cm (5 ft 9.3 in), with males having an average weight of 168 kilograms (370 lb) and females weighing 58 to 72 kilograms (128 to 159 lb). Captive western gorillas average 157 kg (346 lb) in males and 80 kg (176 lb) in females. Another source describes the weight of wild male western lowland gorillas as 146 kg (322 lb). The Cross River gorilla differs from the western lowland gorilla in both skull and tooth dimensions.

A formal description of the species was provided by Thomas Savage in 1847, allying the new species to an earlier description of the chimpanzee as Troglodytes gorilla in a group of eastern simians he referred to as “orangs”. The author selected the specific epithet for the name given by Hanno to “wild men” he had noted on the east coast of Africa, presumed by Savage to be a species of orang. The population is recognised as two subspecies: Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). Nearly all of the individuals of this taxon belong to the western lowland gorilla subspecies, whose population is approximately 276,000 individuals. Only 250 to 300 of the only other western gorilla subspecies, the Cross River gorilla, are thought to remain.

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