The films, Gorillas in the Mist and Chimpanzee depict the behaviors of non-human primates ranging from individual and social behaviors, physical characteristics, their habitats and how to adapt the surroundings. In this case, gorillas and chimpanzees have featured in the two films respectively. Therefore, the entire analysis will compare the two non-human primate species. This will include the behaviors mentioned above among other essential features of the primates. Since most of the wild animals have been labeled as endangered species a study to confirm if gorillas and chimpanzees are endangered is needed so as to protect them.

First of all, Gorillas in the Mist is a film that explains the acts one anthropologist name Dian Fossey who chose to stay in the Rwandan so as to study the lives of gorillas. She gets to socialize with them to the extent of becoming friends with one of them called Digit (Weston, Lawson, Blell, & Hayton, 2015). Secondly, Chimpanzee film depicts a young chimpanzee named Oscar who becomes desperate after losing his mother, Isha. He looks for her in every part of the forest without finding her. As such, Oscar decides to look for a new mother, but neither of the other chimpanzee families accepts him. Luckily, Freddy the leader of chimpanzees accepts to spend time with the young chimpanzee, and the bond between them grew strong as days moved.  Thus, Oscar’s life becomes normal again.

Gorillas are non-human primates that belong to a suborder called Haplorhinni, infraorder known as Simiiformes, and a superorder known as Hominoidea. Also, they belong to a family called Hominidae, genus Gorilla, and species Gorilla beringei or Gorilla gorilla. Lastly, the taxonomical classification of gorillas narrows down to a number of subspecies which include G. b. beringei,G. g. gorilla, and G. b. graueri.

Physically, gorillas are depicted as the largest of all primates. They also have a unique body shape such that their stomachs are bigger than the chest. Researchers claim that the large stomachs are due to their enlarged intestines which digest the bulky fibrous vegetation that they consume. Unlike other primates, gorillas have large muscles on their arms than on their legs. The larger arms result due to their tree-dwelling ancestry. Besides, gorillas possess a lot of strength that enables them to lift and break heavy objects. Concerning their color, they have dark skin which is covered with black to grey hair. However, adult gorillas lack hairs in their palms, lips, ears, and chest. They also have 32 teeth which incl canines become sharper as they grow into adults (Robbins, 2015).

More so, their heads are massive with a bulging forehead, and this makes them differ from other primates like chimpanzees that have a flat forehead. Regarding their fingers and toes, gorillas have thumbs and big toes that oppose other digits enabling them to grasp objects such as food and sticks for fighting during danger. The female gorillas also used the opposable knuckles to hold their young ones while jumping from one tree to another to keep them safe.

On the other hand, gorillas have distinct behaviors which resemble those of humans and other non-human primates. In the film, Dian Fossey manipulates them gorillas to become friends with her. This shows that they can as well become fond of other individuals that resemble them.  Besides, gorillas have varying personalities such that some like socializing while others prefer to stay alone without being interrupted. In the forests, they also have families whereby the older male is the father to the young ones and plays the role of protecting them from any danger. Thus, Fossey had to go through a time to fit among the gorillas. Female gorillas stay close to their young ones to feed them when necessary. The strong bodies that they possess help them fight their enemies.Young gorillas spend time playing around their families and even with those who seem friendly to them.

The natural habitat of gorillas is usually the forests where they can access food easily. They spend their time on trees or even walking on the ground. In the forest, they live on top of trees since it is safer than sleeping on the ground.  Since they live deep in the forests, they can access food by picking edible fruits, vegetables, and even roots. However, gorillas have become an endangered species whereby poachers hunt them so as to get their skins since they have big bodies (Maisels et al., 2016). Even in the film, Fossey’s gorilla friend, Digit is murdered by poachers leaving her a desperate mood. She then starts a campaign to safeguard the remaining gorillas.

On the other hand, chimpanzees belong to suborder haplorrhini, infraoder simiiformes, superfamily hominoidea, family hominidae, subfamily homininae, and genus Pan oken. Furthermore, they belong to a species called Pan troglodytes. Their species is further divided into three subspecies including Pan troglodytes ellioti, Pan troglodytes scweinfurthii, Pan troglodytes verus, and Pan troglodytes troglodytes.As shown above, chimpanzees and gorillas belong to the same suborder, infraorder, superfamily, family, and subfamily. However, they belong to different genus and species.

The physical appearance and characteristics of chimpanzees have a little variation from those of gorillas. Firstly, their faces are flat unlike those of gorillas which have a protruding forehead. Besides, e their bodies are covered with black hair except on their palms, face, ears, fingers, and soles of feet. Also, they have long arms than legs, and this makes them walk on their soles of feet and with their knuckles of hands. Like gorillas, they have opposable thumbs and big toes which helps them to jump and grasp on branches of trees while playing or running away from trouble. They can also grasp items with the knuckles such as food, sticks, and even for holding their young ones.

Concerning their habitats, chimpanzees live on top of trees, and each of them sleeps in a nest that they make (Hobaiter, Leavens, & Byrne, 2016). However, breastfeeding female chimpanzees sleep with their young ones in one nest so that they can protect them from any danger. They prefer to live deep in huge forests where their protection is guaranteed and where natural trees with big branches are available. In short, their habitat is similar to that of gorillas as they both prefer to live on trees for safety.

Apart from physical characteristic and habitat, chimpanzees also have other social and individual characteristics. Firstly, they have their own families in which the males dominate. As such, they tend to walk together so that they can be safe from poachers and other enemies. Female chimpanzees play the role of parenting by feeding their young ones until they become mature enough to take care of themselves ((Hobaiter, Leavens, & Byrne, 2016). However, they do not have special partners like humans, and so mating is random. Chimpanzees also have odd eating habits. They eat up to 300 species of plants in the forest. Besides, they can feed on other foods such as bird eggs, smaller mammals, and insects. Adult chimpanzees play the role of fetching for food so that they can feed on themselves and their young ones.

Like other primates, chimpanzees also communicate with each other through kissing, embracing, holding hands, and touching each other. They express their feelings as well through crying and fighting. Such behaviors are also present in other primates, including gorillas. Like human primates, young chimpanzees also develop a bond with their mothers such that they feel lonely when left alone. In the Chimpanzee film, a young chimpanzee known as Oscar becomes desperate after its mother, Isha, is attacked and killed. He searches for her without success and finally decides to look for a new home.This shows that even chimpanzees have some cognition of what they are and who they should be with.

Like gorillas, chimpanzees are also becoming extinct in several countries. This is due to continuous deforestation that renders them homeless (Maisels et al., 2016). Since they live on trees, cutting them makes them lack a place to rest and also find food. As such, their numbers in forests have become to decrease with some migrating to other habitats while others die from hunger and poaching. Therefore, efforts should be made through conservation of forests to ensure that chimpanzees and gorillas remain alive.

Reference

Hobaiter, C., Leavens, D. A., & Byrne, R. W. (2016). Les chimpanzés sauvages (Pan troglodytes) produisent-ils des gestes déictiques?. Enfance, (4), 405-417

Maisels, F., Strindberg, S., Breuer, T., Greer, D., Jeffery, K., & Stokes, E. (2016). Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e. T9406A102328866.

Robbins, M. M. (2015). Gorillas. The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, 427-500.

Weston, G., Lawson, J. F., Blell, M., & Hayton, J. (2015). Anthropologists in Films:“The Horror! The Horror!”. American Anthropologist, 117(2), 316-328.

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