ABSTRACT
The highland and lowland rain forests of Central and West Africa, from Cameroon to Uganda, are the natural habitat of the largest of the extant primates, the gorilla. A typical gorilla group contains one “silverback male”, the oldest male whose short fur on his back and flanks has become gray, one or more blackback males, several females, juveniles and infants. Three subspecies are recognized within the genus Gorilla: the eastern lowland gorilla which is found in forests of eastern Zaire; the eastern highland gorilla, the typical mountain gorilla, which inhabits Virunga extinct volcanoes and the western lowland gorilla. The infant gorillas form long and stable associations with their peers and siblings and have close relations with their mother extending even into adulthood. The analysis of data tried to identify in our subject the first four stages of sensorimotor intelligence development, as described by Piaget for the human infant, and characterize them by comparison to those of the human infant.
