ABSTRACT
Gorillas, apart from common chimpanzees and bonobos, are our closest living relatives. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their biology, including their anatomy, to help provide a context for our own evolutionary history. However, a review of the literature (see Annex I) clearly indicates that the anatomy of gorillas, and in particular their musculature, has been relatively neglected compared to the information available for chimpanzees. Raven (1950) is usually cited as the main source of information, but it should be emphasized that the descriptions therein were mainly based on the dissection of a single specimen, and we now know that the information it provides is far from comprehensive. For example, about half of the head and neck muscles that are usually present in gorillas (see Chapter 3) were not described by Raven (e.g., the levator veli palatini, tensor veli palatini, tensor tympani, stapedius, stylopharyngeus, constrictor pharyngis medius, constrictor pharyngis inferior, cricothyroideus, constrictor pharyngis superior, palatopharyngeus, thyroarytenoideus, cricoarytenoideus lateralis, arytenoideus obliquus, arytenoideus transversus, cricoarytenoideus posterior, genioglossus, hyoglossus, styloglossus, palatoglossus, and the intrinsic facial muscles of the ear and the intrinsic tongue muscles).
