it could be one of the most important wildlife discoveries in decades. ...And according to the locals and unlike gorillas, these apes are ferocious, and even capable of killing lions.
They stand up to two metres tall, the size of gorillas, and like gorillas, they nest on the ground, not in trees.
But they live hundreds of km away from any other known gorilla populations, and their diet is closer to that of chimpanzees.
Three possibilities have been offered to explain their origin:
- They're a previously-unknown species.
- They're gigantic chimpanzees that behave like gorillas.
- They're hybrids, the product of gorillas mating with chimpanzees.
The third option seems, in my unexpert view, unlikely. Recent genetic studies have suggested that chimps and humans are so closely related that they should be classified in the same genus. And various studies have said that humans and chimps share anywhere fromn 95-98% identical DNA. (The numbers vary because of differences in exactly what is counted and how, but they are persistently in the high 90s.) Even with that, a successful mating would be difficult - and, as in the case of the mule, the offspring of a donkey and a horse (which share identical DNA in about the same proportion as humans and chimps), the offspring would very likely be sterile. So the idea that gorillas and chimps in the wild mated and produced viable, non-sterile offspring in sufficient numbers to establish a hybrid community seems, well, doubtful at best.
As for the second reason, it's certainly possible but sounds more like a reach, a guess, and not a very convincing one.
So I have to admit that for my money, the first option, that a new species has been discovered, seems the most likely.
Way cool.
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