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Gorillas vs. Humans
“There is no reason to teach an ape to become human. There are many reasons to teach some apes and some humans to transition the worlds between the species’ boundaries, especially when our genetics are so similar as to make us 'siblings.' It is the way to learn how we become that which we are.”
― Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
At the young age of twenty, I decided to examine the diet and lifestyle of gorillas and see what they ate and how they lived because gorillas are so similar to humans. They are one of our closest animal relatives (with the exception of the chimpanzee who are our closest animal relatives sharing 99% of our genes), although scientists found that in 30% of the gorilla genome is closer to humans than chimpanzees. (7) This is especially true in genes with accelerated rates of evolution for functions associated with sensory perception, particularly in relation to hearing and brain development. (8) I therefore decided to examine the gorilla’s lifestyle habits to see what I could learn from them.
By examining the way these apes live and eat, and by taking a close look at their health and causes of death, we can conclude many things about human health and lifestyle
Figure 1. Comparison Between Modern Humans and Gorillas
Gorillas share 98.4% of our genome and 99.6% of our DNA. The difference between gorilla and human gene sequences amount to only 1.6% on average, although there are further differences in how many copies each gene has. (9) This similarity in DNA may seem very surprising at first due to the obvious differences between man and ape, but nevertheless they are true. The difference we see between the species is due mainly to epigenetics. (10) Epigenetics is a relatively new field of science that examines how and why certain genes are expressed while others are not. (See Chapter 8 for a detailed look into the science of epigenetics and how we can influence our genes using this science to make us slimmer and healthier.)
Humans and gorillas diverged from a common ancestor (Homininae) about 8 million years ago, (11) see picture on the following page.
Figure 2. This is our family tree.
Gorillas are different from other monkeys for a variety of reasons: they are larger, they can walk upright for a longer period of time, they don’t have tails and they have much larger, more developed brains.
There are three subspecies of gorillas today:
The differences between the three gorilla subspecies are very minor and primarily consist of small variations in size and coloring.
Gorillas, like human beings, are intelligent, playful, emotional, and family oriented. They are even capable of learning sign language. Sadly, despite our close relationship to gorillas, human beings have been the mountain gorilla's only real predators.
Let's look at differences and similarities between humans and gorillas:
A Closer Look at the Facts:
Gorilla Vs. Human Physical Characteristics
Gorillas: Male gorillas are about twice as heavy as female gorillas in the wild and weigh 135–220 kg. (300–485 pounds). Male gorillas attain a height of about 1.7 meters (5.5 feet). A wild adult female gorilla typically weighs about 70–90 kg. (155-200 pounds) and is about 1.5 meters tall (4.92 feet).
Gorillas, like humans, lack hair on the face, hands, and feet. Humans: Today, males weigh on average 78 kg. (172 pounds) and attain an average height of 1.77 meters (5.8 feet). Human females weigh on average 67.9 kg. (149.3 pounds) and attain an average height of 1.63 meters (5.35 feet). (12)
In the past fifty years both men and women gained on average more than twenty-four pounds (11 kg.), while mean height increased approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm). Changes in mean body mass index (BMI) have also occurred. Between the early 1960s and the early 2000s, mean BMI for adults, both males and females between twenty to seventy-four years of age, increased from a BMI of just over twenty-five to almost twenty-eight. (12)
Gorilla Vs. Human Typical Family Structure
Gorillas: Gorillas live in stable family groups numbering from six to thirty members, most often eight members. The groups are organized and led by one or two silver-backed males who are related to each other, usually a father and one or more of his sons. Occasionally brothers lead a group.
The other members of the group include females, infants, juveniles, and young adult males. Adult females join from outside the group, and the young are offspring of silverbacks. The males dominate the group
Humans: According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), human family groups generally involve between four to ten people, including two partners, their parents, siblings, and children with whom close contact is maintained. (13)
In modern human societies, gender roles are not fixed, but constantly negotiated between individuals.
Gorilla Vs. Human Reproduction
Gorillas: Wild female gorillas give birth about once every four years starting at the age of thirteen. There is no fixed breeding season. Copulation may occur all year long in both gorillas and humans. The gestation period is about nine months, and births are usually single, though twins occur on rare occasions. A newborn gorilla weighs only about 4.5 pounds, (2 kg), and is utterly helpless for the first three months of life during which it is carried in its mother’s arms. The young gorilla sleeps in the mother’s nest at night and rides on he