![]() ![]() Groups of Cross River gorillas comprise one dominant male, several females, and their offspring. As their diet shifts to vegetation and bark, they help prune the rainforest and make room for those new seedlings to grow. When eating fruit, Cross River lowland gorillas help disperse seeds in their droppings throughout the forests. Both sources of food play an essential role in the tropical forests in which they live. Cross River lowland gorillas prefer fruit, but as the dry season creates scarcity, they will eat vegetation, liana, and tree bark. Their diet also is greatly influenced by the season. In the dry season, from November on, they are more likely to build nests on the ground. From April through November, Cross River gorillas are more likely to build their nests within a tree due to the wet season. Females are slightly smaller, with a height of 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) and a weight of 100 kg (220 lb).Ī distinct behavior of Cross River gorillas is how they nest. However, the Cross River gorilla males can still have a height of 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) and weigh up to 200 kg (440 lb). What separates the Cross River gorilla from its western lowland gorilla cousin is noticeably smaller stature, skulls, and tooth measurements. Western gorillas include the subspecies of the western lowland gorilla and the Cross River lowland gorilla. Eastern gorillas include the subspecies of the mountain gorilla and eastern lowland gorilla, or Grauer’s gorilla. The genus Gorilla is divided into two species, the eastern and western gorilla. The Cross River lowland gorilla is the most secluded of all the gorilla species, and with a population of only around 250-300 individuals, it is considered the world’s rarest great ape.Ĭross River lowland gorillas are the flagship species of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko Coastal Forests ecoregion, located in the Gulf of Guinea Coastal Forests & Mangroves bioregion ( AT17). ĭeep in the mountainous rainforest of Cameroon and Nigeria, living amongst the bamboo thickets and vast Cross River is a species unknown to science until the early 20th century. One Earth’s “Species of the Week” series highlights the flagship species of each of the 844 unique ecoregions contained within Earth’s bioregions.
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