Gorillas & ChimpanzeesGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
Gorillas & Chimpanzees
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Chimpanzees; Gabon -- Description and travel; Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch), 1848-1920 -- Travel; Gorilla
One important point in which these apes differ is in the scope and
quality of voice. The _kulu_ makes a greater range of vocal sounds than
the other. Some of them are soft and musical, while those uttered by
the _ntyigo_ are fewer in number and more harsh in quality. One of them
resembles the bark of a dog, and another is a sharp screaming sound.
The _kulu_ evinces a certain sense of gratitude, while the _ntyigo_
appears to be almost devoid of this instinct. There are many traits in
which they differ, but human beings, of the same family, also differ in
these qualities.
The points in which they coincide are many, and after a brief review of
them, we may consider the question of making two species of them, or
assigning them to the same.
The skeletons, as we have noted, are the same in form, size and
proportion. Their muscular, nervous, and veinous systems are the
same, except a slight structural variation in the genital organs of
the males, and the degree of mobility in certain facial muscles. The
character of their food, and the mode of eating it, are the same in
each. In captivity they appear to regard each other as one of their own
kind, but whether they mate or not remains to be learned.
Such is the sum of the likenesses and differences between the two
extreme types of this genus; but with so many points in common, and
so few in which they differ, it is a matter of serious doubt whether
they can be said to constitute two distinct species, or only two marked
varieties of a common species. This doubt is further emphasised by the
fact that all the way between these two extremes are many gradations of
intermediate types, so that it is next to impossible to say where one
ends and the other begins.
In view of all these facts, I believe them to be two well-defined
varieties of the same species; they are the white man and the negro of
a common stock. They are the patrician and plebeian of one race, or the
nobility and yeomanry of one tribe. They are like different phases of
the same moon. The _kulu-kamba_ is simply a high order of chimpanzee.
[Illustration: IN THE JUNGLE]
It is quite true that two varieties of one species usually have
the same vocal characteristics, and this appears to be the strongest
point in favour of assigning them to separate species, but it is not
impossible that even this may be waived.
Leaving this question for others to decide, as they find the evidence
to sustain them, we shall, for the present, regard them as one kind,
and consider their physical, social and mental status.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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