206 GORILLA 



GENUS II. GORILLA. GORILLAS. 



I. OUT,; C. JIZi; P. 5:12 ; M. 3i:3 = 32- 



GORILLA I. Geoff., Compt. Rend., XXXIV, 1852, p. 84. Type Trog- 

 lodytes gorilla Wyman. 



Size large ; body stout, heavy ; legs short ; arms long, head large, 

 nose broad, flat, grooved longitudinally ; muzzle broad, mouth large ; 

 upper lip short, lower protrudable; eyes large, ears naked, pointed, 

 with pendulous lobula on lower margin. Braincase small ; supra- 

 orbital ridges greatly developed. Great toe opposable, large, flat ; 

 lower joints of second, third and fourth toes united by a web. Arms 

 reach to middle of legs below knees when the animal stands upright ; 

 hands wrinkled, thickly haired on back ; the thumb short and thick 

 with a broad nail. Canines very large ; upper molars with four cusps, 

 the posterior molar the largest ; anterior lower molar with five cusps, 

 three outer, two inner. Brain narrow, ovate, small end forward ; 

 cerebrum not extending beyond cerebellum ; a keel present upon the 

 orbital surface of the frontal lobes. 



The genus Gorilla contains the largest species of the Great Apes, 

 which, of all mammals, in some particulars approach nearest to man. 

 The three genera which include all the known species, Pongo, Gorilla 

 and Pan have received different serial arrangements, according to the 

 opinions of various writers, as to the greatest affinity which any par- 

 ticular genus might exhibit, to man. Professor Owen who has written 

 several memoirs on these Apes considers that the Gorilla is nearest 

 to man, and does not think the difference between it and the Chim- 

 panzee is sufficient to place them even in separate genera. Professor 

 Owen bases his opinion of the Gorilla being closer to man than any 

 other ape upon the following characters : 



"1st. The coalesced central margins of the nasals are projected 

 forward, thus offering a feature of approximation to the human sub- 

 ject, which is very faintly indicated, if at all in the T. nigcr (Chim- 

 panzee). 



"2nd. The inferior or alveolar part of the premaxillaries, on the 

 other hand, is shorter and less prominent in the T. gorilla than in the 

 T. niger; and in that respect the larger species deviates less from man. 



