Are all Gorillas Silverback gorillas?

Are all Gorillas Silverback gorillas?

Are all Gorillas Silverback gorillas?

Evolution of Silverbacks from Gorillas

Male gorillas are the only ones that develop into silverbacks as they mature; female gorillas do not. The female gorillas and young males are not classified as silverbacks because they do not develop silver hair on their backs.

The male gorillas that are mature but have not yet developed silver hair are called blackbacks until they develop that patch of hair. Only then can they be referred to as silverbacks.

They are visible during gorilla trekking safaris in Rwanda, Uganda, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Silverback gorillas are called so because they develop a saddle-shaped area of silver hair on their backs when they reach sexual maturity, at about the age of 12 years old. The grey hair serves as a tool for displaying and communicating to other gorillas that they are mature males.

Silverbacks are also known to be the hairiest of all other gorillas. Additionally, they are quite substantial, with an erect height of 5.5 to 6 feet.

A mature silverback can weigh up to 350 pounds and has a large bony crest on the tops of their skulls and backs, giving their heads a conical appearance.

Silverbacks are perpetually accountable for the group’s welfare, which encompasses safeguarding against predators. The silverback makes decisions on where to forage for food, where to sleep, and also where the family travels every day.

The dominant male in the family is the sole individual capable of mating with all of the females in the group, and the females select him due to his size and strength.

Typically, the upcoming males either abandon the group and become lone males for a period of time until they establish their own family or they may engage in combat with the dominating silverback in order to take control of the group.

The subsequent mature male will assume the group’s leadership upon the sudden death of a silverback gorilla.

Unless another lone silverback takes over leadership, the group will disperse if there are no other silverbacks. The new silverback occasionally murders all of the other male infants of the former silverback in order to prevent them from being threatened when they mature.

The dominant silverback may be challenged and fought by a silverback from within the group. This typically leads to a brutal fight, which results in the old silverback abandoning the group or the rising silverback being abandoned by the group.

In conclusion, not all gorillas become silverbacks; only males become silverbacks around the age of 12 years old.



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