INTRODUCTION LET'S MEET MOUNTAIN GORILLAS A family of mountain gorillas rests in a clearing As the adults doze on the ground the young gorillas chase one another They wrestle and tumble testing their strength Mountain gorillas are mammals a kind of animal Other kinds of animals include insects fish amphibians reptiles and birds MMMMMMMMMM Young mountain gorillas love to roll around and play
Mountain gorillas have fur and are warm blooded All mammals share certain traits They are all vertebrates animals with backbones They are warm blooded which means their bodies stay warm even when it's cold outside They usually give birth to live young although a few mammals lay eggs They all have hair or fur All female mammals make milk for their babies Mountain gorillas have these and other traits in common with other mammals Yet they also have traits that set them apart Mountain gorillas are powerful plant eating mammals You can find them in the forests of Africa
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DO MOUNTAIN GORILLAS LOOK LIKE Mountain gorillas are the largest of the great apes This family of mammals also includes humans bonobos chimpanzees and orangutans A male mountain gorilla stands as tall as a grown human but weighs about twice as much Female mountain gorillas are smaller than the males The face of a mountain gorilla has a browridge above the eyes a flat nose and flaring nostrils Shaggy dark hair covers most of a mountain gorilla's body Its face feet chest palms and the soles of its feet are bare As a male grows older a patch of hair on his back turns silvery gray He is then known as a silverback DID YOU KNOW Full grown male mountain gorillas may stand nearly 6 FEET 1.8 meters tall and weigh 400 pounds 181 kilograms or more
The mountain gorilla's large hands have four thick fingers and a thumb Its front arms are longer than its legs Mountain gorillas travel by walking on all fours They curl their fingers and walk on their knuckles They also climb trees with their strong limbs Younger lighter gorillas are better climbers than older gorillas An adult male mountain gorilla is known as a silverback
