The mountain gorilla is primarily terrestrial and quadrupedal. The heaviest silverback recorded was a 267 kg (589 lb) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) tall specimen shot in Ambam, Cameroon. There is an unconfirmed record of another individual, shot in 1932, that was 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) and weighed 218.6 kg (482 lb). The tallest silverback recorded was 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) tall with an arm span of 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in), a chest of 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), and a weight of 219 kg (483 lb), shot in Alimbongo, northern Kivu in May 1938. Fully erect males can reach 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) in height, with an arm span of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and weigh 155 kg (342 lb). The hair on their backs is shorter than on most other body parts, and their arm hair is especially long. Adult males are called silverbacks because a saddle of gray or silver-colored hair develops on their backs with age. Like all gorillas, they feature dark brown eyes framed by a black ring around the iris. Adult females also have these crests, but they are less pronounced. These crests anchor the powerful temporalis muscles, which attach to the lower jaw (mandible). Adult males have more pronounced bony crests on the top and back of their skulls, giving their heads a more conical shape. This subspecies is smaller than the eastern lowland gorilla, the other subspecies of eastern gorilla. Females are smaller with a weight of 70–98 kg (154–216 lb). Gorillas can be identified by nose prints unique to each individual The fur of the mountain gorilla, often thicker and longer than that of other gorilla species, enables them to live in colder temperatures. Characteristics Silverback of Ntambara group, in typical resting attitude There is now agreement that there are two species, each with two subspecies. In 2003, after a review, they were divided into two species ( Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei) by The World Conservation Union (IUCN). It was not until 1967 that the taxonomist Colin Groves proposed that all gorillas be regarded as one species ( Gorilla gorilla) with three subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla (western lowland gorilla), Gorilla gorilla graueri (lowland gorillas found west of the Virungas) and Gorilla gorilla beringei (mountain gorillas, including Gorilla beringei, found in the Virungas and Bwindi). The genus was first referenced as Troglodytes in 1847, but renamed to Gorilla in 1852. Mountain gorillas have been isolated from eastern lowland gorillas for approximately 10,000 years and these two taxa separated from their western counterparts approximately 1.2 to 3 million years ago. It was about 8.8 to 12 million years ago that the group of primates who were to evolve into gorillas split from their common ancestor with humans and chimps this is when the genus Gorilla emerged. The fossil record of the area where mountain gorillas live is particularly poor and so its evolutionary history is not clear. The fossil record provides evidence of the hominoid primates (apes) found in East Africa approximately 22–32 million years ago. Mountain gorillas are descendants of ancestral monkeys and apes found in Africa and Arabia during the start of the Oligocene epoch (34–24 million years ago). Evolution, taxonomy, and classification Gorilla taxonomy As of June 2018, there were more than 1,000 individuals. Some primatologists speculate the Bwindi population is a separate subspecies, though no description has been finalized. The other population is found in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central/ East Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in southwest Uganda Volcanoes, in northwest Rwanda and Virunga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.

The mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla.

Mountain gorilla predators