Ambam

This is crazy!!! I never believed in reincarnation, and somebody correct me please, but if I didn't know better I would swear Ambam walks exactly like John Aspinall. In addition to handfuls of fruit Ambem is also reported to be able to carry a complete deck of playing cards in one hand, 25 baccarat chips in the other, and a roulette wheel under his arm!!!!

Kidding aside, might we be seeing Darwin's Theory unfold right before our very eyes? I have tried to find out as much as I can on the internet about Ambam and his mother and father since the story of his unusual "gait" was publicized. If anyone knows anything else about his pedigree, please let me know.

Darwin’s process of natural selection has four components:

1. Variation. Organisms (within populations) exhibit individual variation in appearance and behavior. These variations may involve body size, hair color, facial markings, voice properties, or number of offspring. On the other hand, some traits show little to no variation among individuals—for example, number of eyes in vertebrates.
2. Inheritance. Some traits are consistently passed on from parent to offspring. Such traits are heritable, whereas other traits are strongly influenced by environmental conditions and show weak heritability.
3. High rate of population growth. Most populations have more offspring each year than local resources can support leading to a struggle for resources. Each generation experiences substantial mortality.
4. Differential survival and reproduction. Individuals possessing traits well suited for the struggle for local resources will contribute more offspring to the next generation.

From one generation to the next, the struggle for resources (what Darwin called the “struggle for existence") will favor individuals with some variations over others and thereby change the frequency of traits within the population. This process is natural selection. The traits that confer an advantage to those individuals who leave more offspring are called adaptations.

In order for natural selection to operate on a trait, the trait must possess heritable variation and must confer an advantage in the competition for resources. If one of these requirements does not occur, then the trait does not experience natural selection.

Here's what is interesting:

The Montreal Gazette Jan. 27, 2011

Ambam's father Bitam used to display the same behaviour if he had handfuls of food to carry. Ambam also has a full sister, Tamba, and a half sister at Howletts, who also sometimes stand and walk in the same way.

Researcher's think the great ape might stand up to get a height advantage to look over the wall when keepers come to feed him.

Ambam can also carry a lot more food if he stands and uses both hands, and walking on two feet also means he doesn't get his hands wet when it is raining.

The Examiner Jan. 28, 2011

ITN News reports, “Ambam may have learned this skill from watching his zoo keepers; he first learned to balance on his hind legs and then progressed to master the art of walking.” Normally Silverback Gorillas drag their knuckles to assist themselves in getting around.

It's a possibility that Ambam did learn to walk upright by mimicking humans, as has been suggested. Although Ambam was initially raised by his mother, he developed a stomach infection when he was a month old, and raised by keepers at Howlett's. That's not the same as being hand raised from birth, but it is a valid argument. But if we accept that learning to walk by watching his human "foster parents" is a possibility, then we have to accept the possibility of random genetic drift as well as natural selection?

Charles Darwin didn't know about random genetic drift but we now recognize drift as an important feature of evolution. The alleles in the offspring are a sample of those in the parents, and chance has a role in determining whether a given individual survives and reproduces. In genetic drift, a population experiences a change in the frequency of a given allele, prompted by random luck rather than a need for adaptation. This differs from natural selection, in which allelic frequency is altered based on the fittest genes surviving to reproduce and the weaker genes dying off. Genetic drift tends to be a phenomenon amongst smaller populations.

Wouldn't a captive gorilla population be classed as a "smaller population?" Wouldn't being "rescued" and hand raised be "random luck rather then a need for adaptation?" Does anyone know how many of this particular line of gorilla's have been "rescued" and hand raised, or intervention of some sort to assure their survival. Stories I have read about the mother and father suggest they both have a dominate place in the Howletts troop. Both the mother and father have the ability to walk upright, longer then other gorilla's, as well as Ambam's sister and half sister. Maybe the the arrogance Ambam displays as an adult is also a learned behavior from his parents, if we supposed he learned to walk from his human caretakers? I think the whole story is incredible, only surpassed by the birth of Snowflake, and I know I will be watching it close for years to come.



The clip above was shot at the Columbus Zoo(home of Colo, the worlds oldest gorilla.) Does anyone know if any of the Columbus Zoo Western Lowland Gorilla's are related to any of the Howlett's Western Lowland Gorilla's particularly Ambam's line?