ANTHRO 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Western Gorilla, Dian Fossey, Knuckle-Walking
Document Summary
Many occupy specific niches so little overlap. African apes are confined to equatorial forests. Bonobo and common chimpanzee ranges are separated by the congo river. There is little to no fossil record for these species because tropical forest conditions do not favor fossilization. Very large mandibles zygomatic arches saggital crests: arboreal is limited by size. Gorilla gorilla skulls and teeth: small incisors, large molars. Sharps cusps for chewing leaves: large brow ridges, pronounced sagittal crest, large zygomatic arches, large mandibles, large sexually dimorphic canines, small i2 vs large i2 in chimpanzees. Gorilla locomotion: occasional bipedalism in childhood, jeveniles and adult femals=arboreal and terrestrial, adult males=terrestrial, terrestrial walking= knuckle walking, bipedalism more common in childhood. Gorilla social organization: single male polygyny \ Males leave ther natal group: high sexual dimorphism. Gorilla group structure: mobile female- group foraging, female defense polygyny, single dominant sexually dimorphic silverback , female transfer (abduction, male emigration to form a new group, way of promoting gene flow.
