![]() Male gorillas have much larger canines than females, and they use those teeth to protect the females and youngsters in their troop. A male may try to challenge another to usurp his throne or steal females to build a troop of his own. The most common threat to a silverback gorilla is generally another silverback. Gorillas don’t have any true natural predators, although some research suggests the possibility of rare conflicts with leopards (definitely a good time for big teeth). So why do these herbivorous animals have such big teeth to begin with? Well, those teeth are for protection. When cuts and scrapes occur in our gorillas, we’re always ready to treat and monitor them until every last scratch has healed. It’s no surprise that a 450-pound gorilla with canine teeth 2-3 inches long can leave a nasty wound on another gorilla, and from time to time we see that here at the Zoo. In their environments, being tough is the key to survival. The other great apes continued down their own paths, which still require them to be strong, powerful animals. We no longer needed to be big and tough, so those traits began to go away as we became more technologically advanced. These advancements set us on a course to be very smart – and very squishy. And while those primates evolved to be big and tough, we did not.Īs our brains began to develop instead, we became adept at using tools and learned to control fire, build shelters, and grow our own food. It’s been a long time since our ancestors shared any of the strong, physical traits of the other great apes. Gorillas Zola (left) and B’wenzi (right) interact in their habitat.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |