Which primate is the largest living member of the great ape family?

The eastern gorilla is the largest living member of the great ape family.

Eastern gorillas include the mountain gorilla and the eastern lowland gorilla, also called Grauer’s gorilla. Adult males are substantially larger than females and can weigh well over 100 kilograms, depending on subspecies and individual condition.

Gorillas are herbivorous apes that eat leaves, stems, shoots, fruit, and other plant material. They live in stable social groups often led by a mature silverback, whose name refers to the gray hair that develops across his back with age.

The western gorilla is also very large, but the eastern gorilla is generally recognized as the largest living primate. Gorillas are not monkeys in the scientific classification used here: they are apes, lacking tails and belonging to the hominoid group.