Gorillas are big, stocky creatures with a massive head and bulging forehead. They have a short trunk, longer arms than legs and they use all four limbs to move around, curling up their fingers and walking on the soles of their feet. Adult male gorillas are larger than their female counterparts. The height of a male gorilla averages at approximately 1.7 metres and their weight at 180 kg. The female meanwhile have the average height of 1.4 metres and weigh 90 kg.
Gorillas are dark skinned with reddish brown to nearly black, coarse hair.
Males develop a saddle of grey hairs across their backs, rendering them the name of silverback. Gorillas are characterised by their distinctive facial features of a short hairless muzzle, a flat nose, flaring nostrils, small ears and eyes and strong jaws. They depend on their hearing, rather than their eyesight when they move through dense vegetation. As they are nearly invisible to each other while feeding, they use specific sounds to communicate with their own kind. When a gorilla makes a hooting sound, it immediately alerts the others in the band of impending danger.