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    • 1-4 Days Packages
      • 1 Day Uganda Gorilla Tour
      • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trek
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      • 6 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
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      • 10 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
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    • Last Minute Gorilla Trekking
      • 1 Day Akagera National Park
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  • Rwanda Safaris
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      • 1 Day Boat Cruise & Cultural
      • 1 Day Gorilla Trekking Rwanda
      • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trek
      • 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Rwanda double Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour
    • 5 – 10 Days Packages
      • 5 Days Rwanda Gorillas Safari
      • Rwenzori and Gorilla Safari
      • Rwanda Primates And Lake Kivu Safari
      • 5 Days Bwindi And Kibale Safari
      • 7 Days Gorillas and Chimpanzee
      • 7 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 7 Days Rwanda Safari
      • 8 Days Rwanda Gorilla Tour
      • 8 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 9 Days Rwanda Gorilla & wildlife Safari
      • 9 Days Gorilla & Wildlife Tour
    • Useful Links
      • Gorilla Groups of Volcanoes
      • Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes
    • Rwanda National Park
      • Volcanoes National Park
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  • Congo Safaris
    • 1-4 Safari Packages
      • 2 Days Congo Gorilla Trek
      • 3 Day Congo Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Lowland Gorilla Trek
      • 4 Days Congo lowland Gorillas and Lake Kivu.
      • Lowland Gorillas & Idjwi Island
    • 6-10 Days+ Packages
      • 6 Days Congo Gorilla Safari
      • 7 Days Congo Gorilla Safari
    • Useful Links
      • Congo Gorilla Trekking Cost
      • Gorilla Trek in Kahuzi Biega
      • Gorilla Families in Virunga
  • Uganda Safaris
    • 1-4 Days Packages
      • 3 Days Chimpanzee Tracking
      • 3 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Ssese Island Tour
      • 4 Days Double Gorilla Trekking
      • 4 Days Gorilla Trekking
      • 4 Days Honeymoon Tour
    • Uganda Day Trips
      • 1 Day Chimpanzee Trekking Tour
      • 1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Tour
      • Batwa Community Walk
      • Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
      • The Ik Tribe
    • 5-10 Days Packages
      • 5 Days Uganda Safari
      • 5 Days Gorillas & Lake Bunyonyi
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      • 5 Days Chimps & Gorillas Tour
      • 7 Days Chimps & Gorilla Trek
      • 7 Days Rwanda Tour
      • 15 Days Uganda Adventure Safari.
    • Quick Links
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  • Multi Country Safaris
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    • Uganda, Rwanda, Congo And Burundi
    • 7 Days Rwanda Uganda Safari
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    • 8 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Gorillas & Wildlife Safari
    • 12 Days Rwanda Uganda Double Gorillas & Chimps
    • 12 Days Rwanda Uganda Gorillas, Wildlife & Chimps
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Evolution, taxonomy and classification of Gorilla

Mountain gorillas are descendants of ancestral monkeys and apes found in Africa and Arabia during the start of the Oligocene epoch (34-24 million years ago).

The fossil record provides evidence of the hominoid primates (apes) found in east Africa about 18–22 million years ago. The fossil record of the area where mountain gorillas live is particularly poor and so its evolutionary history is not clear.

It was about 9 million years ago that the group of primates that were to evolve into gorillas split from their common ancestor with humans and chimps; this is when the genus Gorilla emerged. It is not certain what this early relative of the gorilla was, but it is traced back to the early ape Proconsul Africanus

. Mountain gorillas have been isolated from eastern lowland gorillas for about 400,000 years and these two taxa separated from their western counterparts approximately 2 million years ago.

There has been considerable and as yet unresolved debate over the classification of mountain gorillas. The genus was first referenced as Troglodytes in 1847, but renamed to Gorilla in 1852. It was not until 1967 that the taxonomist Colin Groves proposed that all gorillas be regarded as one species (Gorilla gorilla) with three sub-species Gorilla gorilla gorilla (western lowland gorilla), Gorilla gorilla graueri (lowland gorillas found west of the Virunga) and Gorilla gorilla beringei (mountain gorillas including, Gorilla beringei found in the Virunga and Bwindi). In 2003 after a review they were divided into two species (Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei) by The World Conservation Union (IUCN).

GORILLA SAFARIS

  • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour
  • 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla & Golden Monkeys Trek
  • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas and Lake Mburo Trek 
  • 4 Days Gorillas & Golden Monkey Trek
  • 6 Days Uganda Chimps & Gorilla Trek
  • 10 Days Uganda Primates & Wildlife Safari

UGANDA SAFARIS

  • 3 Days Chimpanzee Trek Kibale
  • 3 Days Gorilla Trekking Safari
  • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas & Lake Bunyonyi Safari
  • 4 Days Double Uganda Gorilla Safari
  • 5 Days Bwindi Gorillas & Cultural Safari
  • 5 Days Kibale Chimps & Bwindi Gorilla Safari
  • 7 Days Uganda Chimpanzee and Gorilla Safari

MULTI COUNTRY SAFARIS

  • 5 Days (Bwindi & Volcanoes) Gorillas
  • 7 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Safari
  • 7 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Safari
  • 8 Days Uganda Rwanda Double Gorilla Tour 
  • 8 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Gorillas & Wildlife Safari
  • 12 Days Double Gorilla and Chimpanzee Tour

OUR ADDRESS

Gorilla Expeditions.com is Managed by Active African Vacations Limited a Gorilla Trekking Company based in Uganda.

Uganda Office
P.O. Box 25543 Kampala, Uganda
Mobile: +250735084672 /+256-774819223
E-mail: info@gorillaexpeditions.com

Rwanda Office
God is Able House Airport Road.

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