Body growth and life history in wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) from Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Abstract

While comparable data are scarce, our findings provide preliminary support for the prediction that mountain gorillas reach maximum body size at earlier ages compared to more frugivorous western gorillas. Data from other wild populations are needed to better understand comparative great ape development, and investigate links between trajectories of physical, behavioral, and reproductive maturation.

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives

“…34,137,138 Political conflict broke out in Rwanda in 1990, leading to a decade of civil unrest that restricted the ability for foreign researchers to work at Karisoke, but routine monitoring of the Karisoke study groups continued by Rwandan field staff. 139 Since 2000, studies have been conducted on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, male relationships, 40,120,140,141 social ontogeny and personality, 142,143 feeding ecology and ranging patterns, 42,144 feeding competition, 145 behavioral endocrinology, [146][147][148] body size and growth patterns, 149 and reproductive success. 55,71,90,150 Fossey's legacy lives on with 2017 marking 50 years of research at the Karisoke Research Center.…”

Dispersal and reproductive careers of male mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

“…Using the genetic tracking data, we investigated if success rates of solitary males forming groups increased over time, which would suggest that they need to continue maturing after dispersal, as Karisoke males continue to grow until about 16 years of age (Galban et al 2017). Conversely, if the success rate declined over time, it might suggest that high-quality males succeed more quickly than lower quality males.…”

A user's guide for the quantitative analysis of substrate characteristics and locomotor kinematics in free‐ranging primates

“…Parallel laser devices have been used in field settings as a noninvasive method to estimate anatomical measures as they relate to overall body size and growth in wild animals (Barrickman, Schreier, & Glander, ; Bergeron, ; Durban & Parson, ; Galbany et al, , ; Rothman et al, ). We applied the same method to quantify substrate diameter.…”

“…We applied the same method to quantify substrate diameter. Following previously published protocols, we designed and had a professional machine shop construct a custom aluminum frame that houses two class 3R 5 mW green lasers to the tripod mount of a digital camera (i.e., Canon EOS 70D equipped with a 55–250 mm zoom lens) (Figure ) (Barrickman et al, ; Bergeron, ; Durban & Parson, ; Galbany et al, , ; Rothman et al, ). Green lasers were favored due to their increased visibility in daylight conditions and because there is no realistic risk to animal safety from the Class 3R lasers (Bergeron, ; Rothman et al, ).…”

“…Similar to the parallel laser method, the distance meter method is another photogrammetric technique used to scale images and has been used to assess various anatomical measurements of both captive and free‐ranging animals (Breuer, Robbins, & Boesch, ; Galbany et al, ). This technique is predicated on collecting accurate measurements of the distance between the target object plane (i.e., a plane oriented perpendicular to the optical axis and containing all target landmarks) and the camera lens (Galbany et al, ).…”