Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:30 am  
Ape, Gorilla



{General Description-

The largest living primates, gorillas are stocky animals with broad chests and shoulders, large hands, and forearms that are much shorter than the upper arm. The face is black and hairless, with small eyes that are close together and large, prominent nostrils.

Hepmonland gorillas are exceptionally large and powerful primates. They have no tails and jet black skin. Facial features include short muzzles, a prominent brow ridge, large nostrils, and small eyes and ears. They have large jaw muscles and broad, strong teeth. Coarse, dark hair covers the entire body except for the face, ears, hands, and feet. Generally, the hair on the back and rump of older males grows grey and is lost with age. This coloration pattern has resulted in older males being known as "silverbacks". Hepmonland have a slightly more brown/grey coat color with shorter hair and are usually slightly smaller than mountain gorillas.

Males are usually larger than females, reaching weights up to 275 kg in captivity. In the wild, male gorillas average 180 kg, with females often almost half that weight. Male gorillas have stocky bodies standing usually 1.75 meters in height with bent knees. On average, females are only 1.25 meters tall. This marked sexual dimorphism is critical in group structure and mating. Large males, with large body size, canines, and jaw musculature, have increased physical and social power within the group.

Hands are proportionately large with nails on all digits and very large thumbs. Hepmonaland gorillas frequently stand upright, but walk in a hunched, quadrupedal fashion, with hands curled and knuckles touching the ground. Walking quadrupedally requires long arms, and the armspan of gorillas is larger than their standing height. Limbs are plantigrade and pentadactyl

{Size - M

{Height - 6' Tall, Broad

{Weight - 400lbs

{Type - Natural

{Movement - 12"

{Behavior -

Gorillas are generally peaceful, shy, and amiable unless threatened. However, males will stand erect and beat their chests with their fists in attempts to intimidate or show off their strength. They growl loudly and become very dangerous when annoyed or attacked. Gorillas also demonstrate aggression by charging towards perceived intruders. They rarely hit the intruder, though. Instead, they rush past and may charge again.

{Combat -

Fights with both hands. If both hit will cause grabbing and rending damage.

Fighting plays an important role in group hierarchy. It is common that a newly-dominant male, after displacing the former dominant male, is likely to kill the infants in the group, thus returning all lactating females prematurely to reproductive cycling. In doing this, a male increases his chance to produce offspring, as his tenure as a dominant male is of unknown duration. To guard against potentially infanticidal males, a male's capacity to fight and ensure survival of his progeny is unquestionably paramount to receptive females.

{Magic Resistance - Standard

{Special Abilities -

Grabbing and Rending Attack

{Intelligence - Low

{Speech -

Male gorillas are known to make a hooting sound as an alarm to all members of the group, each of whom becomes instantly alert.

Gorillas communicate using calls, facial expressions and physical postures, and through tactile means. Scents may play some role in communication in these animals.

{Vision -

{Activity Cycle -

Gorillas build day and night nests of branches and leaves for cushion on the ground or in trees. Lightweight individuals can be seen swinging from tree to tree by their arms (brachiation).

{Diet -

Wild gorillas are herbivores, subsisting mainly on juicy stemmed plants. They will also consume leaves, berries, ferns and fibrous bark. Usually gorillas feed during the morning and afternoon. Hepmonaland gorillas climb trees up to 15 meters in height in search of food. Gorillas never completely strip vegetation from a single area. The rapid regrowth of the vegetation they consume allows them to stay within a reasonably confined home range for extended periods of time

{Habitat - Tropical secondary forests,

{Family Structure -

1-4 encountered

Typically one dominant male within a gorilla troup mates with the females in that group. The dominant male, because of his superior fighting prowess and the perceived ability to better protect females and their offspring, is preferred by the females.

Gorillas band together in groups of 5 to 15 individuals. A typical group consists of one dominant male, many adult females with their young. In some cases, a smaller pack of less dominant males will associate on the periphery of this core group. The dominant male, sometimes known as a silverback because of the age-related greying hair on his back, remains dominant until another male displaces him from his position. Displaced silverbacks typically lead a solitary life.

Groups may travel together for months and usually years at a time, but, because of the abundance of food in the vicinity of their camps and their imposing size, little time and energy is typically devoted to travel. For these reasons, no territorial defense is exhibited and often ranges of neighboring groups overlap.

{Life Cycle -

As in humans, there is no fixed breeding season for gorillas, and females menstruate every 28 days. A single young, weighing approximately 2 kg, is born after nine months of gestation. Young gorillas nurse for 3 to 4 years. Females give birth at about four-year intervals, beginning when they are approximately ten years of age. However, a high mortality rate means surviving offspring are produced only once every 6 to 8 years. Males, because of physical competition for mates, only rarely breed before the age of 15

Infants are suckled for 3 to 4 years. In the case of multiple young, the mother, who must carry the infants, finds it difficult to care for two and frequently allows one to die. Young grow at approximately twice the rate of human babies and are able to crawl and cling to their mother by the age of 3 months. They remain dependent upon the mother for 3 to 4 years.

Females provide the young with transportation, food, and socialization. They protect their young within the group. Males do not typically interact much with the young, although they do protect their offspring by defending the social group against potentially infanticidal males who might wish to take over control of the group.

Wild gorillas live between 35 and 40 years with some captive gorillas living almost 50 years.

{History -

{Affinity/Antipathy -

{Deities -

{Useful Components -

{References -

Monster Manual - Pg7

Deblase, A., R. Martin. 1981. A Manual of Mammalogy with Keys to Families of the World, Second Edition,. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. Publishers.

MacDonald, D. 1987. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File Publications.