The locomotor ecology of wild western lowland gorillas: How does the largest ape exploit complex arboreal environments?

Western lowland gorillas are the largest and most sexually dimorphic ape that habitually exploits arboreal environments. Their size, robust musculature and specialised adaptations in the hands and feet, which are suited for terrestrial quadrupedal locomotion, make them interesting models for understanding how great apes are able to exploit complex arboreal habitats. We present a comprehensive analysis of the arboreal locomotor ecology of western lowland gorillas by studying their behaviour and ecology in the context of their morphology. A group of fully habituated wild western lowland gorillas was followed for 12 months in Loango National Park, Gabon. Statistical analysis applying regression modelling and Akaike's Information Criterion was used to identify the relationships between locomotor behaviours, height, contextual behaviour, support use, hand posture and body size. Our findings suggest that the gorillas were not restricted in their ability to access and move around in tree canopies because of their size or postcranial morphology. Instead, they exhibited considerable behavioural flexibility and engaged in locomotor behaviours that contradicted classic body size predictions for primates. To offset the risks of moving on small supports, the gorillas used hand-assisted bipedal locomotion on multiple small supports, rather than relying on suspensory locomotion. We suggest that this is linked to their hand dimensions, which have been selected to facilitate efficient quadrupedal walking on the ground. The silverback gorilla engaged in less horizontal locomotion in the canopy, spent less time at heights above 20 m, and used large supports more often than the adult females, blackback and adolescents, but the type and number of supports used did not vary between body size groups. We also found that the reproductive status of the females (presence or absence of small infants) may have shaped how they responded to risks when solving the problem of gap-crossing in the trees. Overall, our results highlight that the gorillas likely prioritised risk minimisation in the supports that they used in arboreal environments at the cost of increased energy expenditure.