384 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



The chimpanzee (Fig. 194, E and F), Pan pygmceus, is an African 

 ape with black hair and a height of about five feet; it is less bulky 

 than the orang. These characters make the chimpanzee a better 

 climber than the orang, though not so good as the gibbon. The head 

 is larger than that of the orang, and the brow ridges are very prom- 

 inent. There is a pronounced sagittal crest on the skull for the attach- 

 ment of the neck musculature. The jaws are prognathous and re- 

 semble those of prehistoric Man. It builds nests much like those 

 of the orang. Some authorities distinguish several species of chim- 

 panzees. They are largely but not exclusively fruit-eaters. Their 

 range is rather limited, being confined to central equatorial Africa. 



The gorilla (Fig. 196), Gorilla gorilla, is much the largest and 

 fiercest of the anthropoid apes. It is native to the tropical African 

 forests and is confined to a very restricted territory. It stands about 

 five feet in height, but is so massive in build that it frequently reaches 

 a weight of between four and five hundred pounds. If it had legs 

 in proportion to its arms and trunk it would be a giant of at least 

 seven feet in height. The gorilla has become as highly specialized as 

 a muscular brute as has Man as a creature of intelligence and finesse. 

 The skull has a much heavier sagittal ridge than that of the other 

 apes, and this is accompanied by a neck musculature of tremendous 

 strength. The jaws are prognathous and very powerful, with large 

 canine teeth, and the brow ridges are very prominent. All of these 

 characters are much more pronounced in the old males than in the 

 young males or in the females; a condition that suggests strongly 

 their highly specialized character. The gorilla is a "negro" ape in 

 the sense that the skin is black and the hair black and coarse. In 

 habits the gorilla appears to be transitional between the arboreal and 

 the terrestrial types. Both hands and feet approach the human type, 

 especially in young specimens, though the great toe remains com- 

 pletely opposable. Gorillas are gregarious, living in bands of con- 

 siderable size, with an old male at the head of each band. They will 

 not run from Man or from any other creature, but stand their ground 

 and put up a ferocious fight with both hands and teeth. The state- 

 ment has often been made that the gorilla uses sticks or clubs in 

 fighting, but this has never been confirmed by a reliable authority. 

 From the purely brute physical standpoint the anthropoids have 

 attained a higher degree of specialization than any other primate, but 

 they fall far short of Man in nervous specialization. 



