Whats the Difference between an Ape and a Gorilla?

Question

I never really knew..........

Answer 1

To put is simple a gorilla is a type of ape. Kinda like how a wolf is a type of canine.

There are two species of gorillas and four, almost five subspecies.

There are Western Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) that is broken down into Western Lowlands (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River group (Gorilla gorilla diehli).

The other species is Eastern Gorillas (Gorilla beringei) that is broken down into two more subspecies, Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and Eastern Lowlands (Gorilla beringei graueri).

The other subspecies they are look at currently another spin off of the Mountian Gorilla found in Bwindi Forest.

The gorillas you find in captivity will all be Western Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Answer 2

Ape is the name of the group that includes all tailless primates such as gibbons, chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. A gorilla is a member of that group. There are two species of gorilla, Western and Eastern Gorilla, respectively, although this is being debated.

So to answer your question: a gorilla is an ape, but an ape is not necessarily a gorilla!

Answer 3

Apes are a subset (subclade) of Primates that are characterized by an unusually mobile shoulder joint. Gorillas are members of this subset, and so **are** apes, just like us, chimps, bonobos, orangs, gibbons, and siamangs.

If it helps... think about this as a hierarchy. You, a gorilla, a baboon, and a dog are all mammals, because (among other things) you all have hair. You, the gorilla, and the baboon are all primates, because you all inherited fingernails from your common ancestor, something that dogs lack. But you and the gorilla share a mobile shoulder joint that the baboon lacks, something you and the gorilla inherited from a more recent common ancestor with eachother than either of you has with the baboon.

Answer 4

Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. Under current classification, there are two families of hominoids:

the family Hylobatidae consists of 4 genera and 12 species of gibbons, including the Lar Gibbon and the Siamang, collectively known as the "lesser apes"
the family Hominidae consisting of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans,[1][2] collectively known as the "great apes". .... click the link below to read more


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ape


in a nut-shell, a APE is just a catagory for large tailless primates. as in orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans.....we are primates as well.

Answer 5

...Their names??? (=