Classification:  

A silverback standing in profile

      The scientific name for the Western Gorilla stems from a long history of African exploration. Hanno, a navigator from Carthage, documented his travels in western Africa before 480 B.C.E.; the Greek translation of his records reveals that he learned the word "Gorillai" from natives there to name what he described as a "tribe of hairy women." In 1847, Dr. Thomas Savage also traveled to western Africa and scientifically described the Western Gorilla for the first time, giving it the New Latin name Troglodytes gorilla. The scientific name Gorilla gorilla was later adopted. 1   



      The taxonomy of Gorilla gorilla, commonly known as the Western Gorilla, is outlined in the following table, along with a list of defining characteristics for each of the taxa.

Domain Eukarya cells contain membrane-bound nucleus enclosing DNA and many organelles;
Kingdom Animalia multicellular; heterotrophic; lack cell walls; motile at some point in life
Phylum Chordata bilaterally symmetrical; triploblastic; highly cephalized; complete digestive tract; notochord, dorsal nerve cord, endostyle, pharyngeal pouches, and post-anal tail each present at some point in life cycle
Subphylum Vertebrata cranium protects brain; vertebral column of bone &/or cartilage to protect dorsal nerve cord found in most 5
Class Mammalia covered with hair; homeothermic; many glands present including mammary glands to provide nourishment for offspring; jaw consists of single bone; facial muscles and lips present 5 
Infraclass Eutheria  internal fertilization and development of embryo (viviparous) 5
Order Primates eyes located on front of face; hands and feet generally good at grasping; flattened nails; large brain size relative to body size 5
Suborder Anthropoidea fully opposable thumbs 5
Infraorder Catarrhini Old World monkeys and apes: native to Africa and Asia 16
Superfamily Hominoidea the "apes:" lack tail 5
Family Hominidae the "Great Apes:" relatively large bodies; generally long arms and short legs; capable of bipedalism for at least short periods 5
Genus Gorilla largest of the primates; stocky bodies; forearms considerably shorter than upper arms; dark hair covering body except on face, ears, hands and feet 8
Species Gorilla gorilla The "Western Gorilla:" found in west-equatorial Africa; slightly smaller than G. beringei with several defining features (See Speciation)


        This "family tree" outlines the phylogeny of the order Primates and shows the close relationships of Gorilla gorilla to other species, including humans. A great deal of genetic analysis of the higher primates has been completed recently. It is now generally accepted that, contrary to previous beliefs, the genera Gorilla and Pan are actually more closely related to humans than to orangutans. In the past few years, it has also been determined that the genus Gorilla consists of two separate species: G. gorilla, which contains two subspecies (G. g. gorilla and G. g. diehli), and G. beringei, which has three probable subspecies. Learn more about the speciation of G. Gorilla here. I constructed this phylogenetic tree using data, compiled by Indiana University, from molecular analyses of Albumin protein sequences. 3,16

Phylogenetic tree of the primates

Check out these other interesting pages to learn more about some of the Western Gorilla's closest relatives:
Prosimii: Ring-Tailed Lemur, Aye-aye
Platyrrhini: Emperor Tamarin
Pongo: Sumatran Orangutan
Pan: Chimpanzee
Gorilla: Eastern Gorilla
Homo: Human

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Question or Comments? Feel free to contact me at wussow.arik@students.uwlax.edu.       

Site designed by Arika Wussow, Last updated April 2008.

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