The earliest records of primates are more than 65 million years old. What is believed though is that the great apes including gorillas broke off from the others about 20 million years ago. That is why we find vast differences between them. In fact, gorillas are more closely related to humans in their genetic make up than many other types of primates out there.
However, researchers believe that the gorillas developed into a larger and stronger species. In doing so though they lost some of the agility that is found with other types of primates. Many speculate that gorillas may have once had a tail but that once they evolved to be so large their bodies were too heavy for them to swing from trees so they really no longer had any use for it. Balance was another reason for the tail but as they evolved they were able to balance without it.
Instead they started to swing with their powerful arms when they needed to. This need is why they have arms that are longer than their legs. These longer arms help them to move quickly as well as to keep their balance. While they can walk in an upright position it is slow and clumsy to them. They prefer to walk on all fours with their knuckles being the point for the balance and for the weight of their movements.
It is believed that gorillas actually evolved from chimpanzees more than 7 million years ago. This information is based on remains that have been found as well as DNA testing on those remains. It may surprise you to learn that the information we do have about evolution for gorillas has only came about over the past 30 or 5o years.
There is evidence to suggest that gorillas were once only one species. However, due to the volcanic action and the fact that they don’t like water, they were cut off from each other into separate areas. Over the long period of time they were found to be genetically different in enough ways which is why they are considered to be two different species. However, both of the species have many similarities that make them closely related.
Of course the issue of gorilla evolution can’t be discussed without the ever hot topic of debate – did humans evolve from gorillas as Darwin stated in his theory? There is certainly plenty of evidence to indicate that is true. After the entire DNA of man and of gorillas is 98% the same. Hopefully we will one day have the technology to put this debate to rest and to have the answer to that question beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Even though we do have some basic information about gorillas and the evolution process, there is so much we still have to figure out. Right now though most of that research has been placed on hold. Experts agree that their attention needs to be focused on helping to ensure the gorillas don’t become extinct. That is a very consuming job and one that we hope to see plenty of positive results from in the future.