Gorilla

Gorilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Class Information
Class	Mammalia
Order Information
Order	Primates
Sub-order	Hominoidea
Family Information
Family	Hominidae
Sub-family	Homininae
Tribe Information
Tribe	Gorillini
Genus Information
Genus	Gorilla
Species Information
Species	gorilla
Subspecies	See article for full list of subspecies
Population statistics

The gorilla, the largest of the living primates, is a ground-dwelling omnivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies.^[1] Comparison of DNA sequences of humans and gorillas show them to be 99% identical.

Attempts have been made to teach a gorilla named Koko a form of sign language, although this is highly questionable.^[2] Some scientists believe that Koko's ability to communicate through ASL is equivalent to a parrot's ability to communicate through speech. Some scientists believe that Koko was only trained to make hand gestures but does not actually understand what she is doing. Young earth creationists believe that gorillas were created about 4000 years ago. According to evolutionary thought, humans shared a common ancestor with gorillas as recently as four to seven million years ago.^[3]

Taxonomy[edit]

• Genus Gorilla
  • G. gorilla (Western gorilla)
    • G. g. gorilla (Western Lowland gorilla)
    • G. g. diehli (Cross River gorilla)
  • G. beringei (Eastern gorilla)
    • G. b. beringei (Mountain gorilla)
    • G. b. graueri (Eastern Lowland gorilla)

References[edit]