Gorilla

Great apes are endowed with a semi-precision grip, and have been able to use both simple tools and even weapons, such as improvising a club from a convenient fallen branch. In the animated television show Futurama, which is set in the 31st century, Xmas is the official name for the day formerly known as Christmas (which has become an "archaic pronunciation"). In September of 2005, a two and a half year old gorilla in the Republic of Congo was discovered using rocks to smash open palm nuts. This apparent usage of "X" to spell the syllable "kris" (rather than "ks") has extended to "xtal" for "crystal", and on florists' signs "xant" for "chrysanthemum" (though these words are not etymologically related to "Christ"; "crystal" comes from a Greek word meaning "ice", and "chrysanthemum" from Greek words meaning "golden flower", while "Christ" comes from a Greek word meaning "anointed"). [2]. At the same time, Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of "Christian" and "Christianity"; and nowadays still are sometimes so used, but much less than "Xmas". This means that all of the great apes are now known to use tools. The Oxford English Dictionary documents the use of this abbreviation back to 1551, 50 years before the first English colonists came to North America and 60 years before the King James Version of the Bible was completed.

A second female was seen using a tree stump as a bridge and also as a support whilst fishing in the swamp. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, X is an abbreviation for Christos, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek. A female gorilla in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo was recorded using a stick to gauge the depth of water whilst crossing a swamp. In ancient Christian art χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ's name. Gorillas are now known to use tools in the wild. "Kings X" for "Kings Cross") may have reinforced this assumption. The following observations were made by a team led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society in September 2005. The use of X as an abbreviation for "cross" in modern abbreviated writing (e.g.

A few individuals in captivity, such as Koko, have been taught a subset of sign language (see animal language for a discussion). Indeed, X-as-chi was associated with Christ long before X-as-cross could be. Gorillas are closely related to humans and are considered highly intelligent. The occasionally seen belief that the "X" represents the cross Christ was crucified on has no basis in fact; St Andrew's Cross is X-shaped, but Christ's cross was probably shaped like a T or a †. If he is killed by disease, accident, fighting or poachers, the group will split up or be taken over in its entirety by a male descendant or even an unrelated male; there is a strong risk that a new male may kill the infants of the dead silverback. This notion is greatly disputed. If challenged by a younger or even by an outsider male, a silverback will scream, beat his chest, shake broken-off branches at the intruder, bare his teeth then charge forward. As origins of the word go largely unnoticed by the larger public, many people believe that the term is part of an effort to "take Christ out of Christmas" or to literally "cross out Christ"; it is also seen as evidence of the secularization of Christmas or a vehicle for pushing political correctness, or as a symptom of the commercialization of the holiday (as the abbreviation has long been used by retailers).

While infant gorillas normally stay with their mother for 3–4 years, silverbacks will care for weaned young orphans. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ), used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ") (see Labarum), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. Males will slowly begin to leave their original troop when they are about 11 years old, travelling alone or with a group of other males for 2–5 years before being able to attract females to form a new group and start breeding. "Christ" was often written as "XP" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as 1021 AD. Each typically leads a troop of 5 to 30 gorillas and is the center of the troop's attention, making all the decisions, mediating conflicts, determining the movements of the group, leading the others to feeding sites and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of the troop. The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. Silverbacks are the strong, dominant troop leaders. This abbreviation is widely but not universally accepted; some view it as demeaning to Christ, whilst others find it helpful to use in text messages and emails and quickly handwritten notes to save space.

Blackbacks are sexually immature males of up to 11 years of age. The "-mas" part came from the Anglo-Saxon for "festival", "religious event": Crīstesmæsse or Crīstemæsse. A silverback gorilla has large canines that come with maturity. They are now usually pronounced "eksmas", but in older times they, and variants such as "Xtemass", were handwriting abbreviations for the pronunciation "Christmas". A silverback is an adult male gorilla, typically more than 12 years of age and named for the distinctive patch of silver hair on his back. "Xmas" and "X-mas" are common abbreviations of the word "Christmas". All gorillas share a single blood type, B. This article is about the spelling XMAS which is often used as an abbreviation for "Christmas"..

Threats to gorilla survival include habitat destruction and the bushmeat trade. Both species of gorilla are endangered, and have been subject to intense poaching for a long time. [1]. The proposed third subspecies of Gorilla beringei which has not yet received a full latin designation is the Bwindi Gorilla.

More recently it has been claimed that a third subspecies exists in one of these groups. There is now agreement that the gorilla is divided into two species of at least two subspecies each. Until recently there were considered to be three species of gorilla, the Western Lowland, the Eastern Lowland and the Mountain Gorilla. Primatologists continue to explore the relationships between various gorilla populations.

Gorillas are renowned for their strength but no research has been conducted into how strong they are compared to humans. Due to their diet of plant life, gorillas often have bloated stomachs. Insects make up 1-2% of their diet. Gorillas are mainly vegetarian, eating fruits, leaves, and shoots.

The Philadelphia Zoo's Massa set the longevity record of 54 years at the time of his death. Lifespan is between 30–50 years. Females mature at 10–12 years (earlier in captivity); males 11–13 years, sometimes sooner if they assume leadership early. Infants stay with their mothers for 3–4 years.

There are typically 3–4 years between births. Gestation is 8½ months. Females are about half the weight of males. Adult males range in height from 1.65 m to 1.75 m (5.4 to 5.7 feet), and in weight from 140 kg to 165 kg (305 to 360 pounds).

Gorillas move about by knuckle-walking. .
. With 92-98% of its DNA being identical to that of a human, it is the second closest living relative to humans after the two chimpanzee species.

Divided into two species and (under debate as of 2006) either four or five subspecies. The gorilla, the largest of the primates, is a ground-dwelling herbivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. A popular virtual band "The Gorillaz" is named after the animal. In the 1997 film adaptation, Ape is voiced by John Cleese.

In the Tarzan-parody animated TV series George of the Jungle, George's best friend is an erudite talking gorilla named Ape. In the animated Disney version of Tarzan, the hero's adopted family are gorillas (unlike the "Great Apes" of the original book), including Kala, Kerchak, Terk, and Tublat. The British comedy series The Mighty Boosh features a talking gorilla named Bollo. Its theme is a dance song called "Barking Gorillas Bounce" [6], and its logo features three gorillas dressed as a barbershop trio.

There is a children's musical group called Barking Gorillas [5]. In the popular video game Halo 2, an alien race nicknamed the Brutes resemble evil gorillas. An intelligent gorilla named Grodd is a recurring super-villain of The Flash in DC Comics and the animated TV series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Gorillas were frequently used as a gimmick to sell comics during the Silver Age of Comic Books: see Gorillas in comics.

In the award-winning novel Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn, a gorilla teaches the protagonist about the history of humanity and the effect "civilized" culture has had on other species. He (she?) also plays backup guitar for "Freddie," a fellow student who may or may not be Freddie Mercury. In the anime series "Sakigake! Cromartie High School," a gorilla is one of the more powerful delinquents at Cromartie High. Writer Mark Evanier promotes this holiday on his web site [3], [4].

"National Gorilla-Suit Day" is celebrated every year on January 31st. The protagonist of Don Martin's Mad Magazine strip "National Gorilla-Suit Day" is beset by gorillas (or persons dressed as gorillas). His beast modes get more technological in each incarnation. Optimus Primal in the TV series and toy line Beast Wars and Beast Machines starts out as a regular gorilla.

The namesake of the Donkey Kong video game franchise is a gorilla. In the Planet of the Apes films, comic books, etc., normal-sized gorillas fill security/military roles. The giant gorilla is a recurring theme in film, especially in the various incarnations of King Kong and Mighty Joe Young. The Phillips Academy boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, has a gorilla as an informal mascot.

Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, is the only public college in the United States to have a gorilla as mascot. The NBA's Phoenix Suns mascot is The Gorilla. A gorilla is a mascot for a number of sports teams: