When did the ancestors of western gorillas split from eastern gorillas?
Answer
Between 0.9 and 1.6 million years ago
The evolutionary history shows a significant, ancient divergence that separated the ancestral lines leading to the modern Western Gorillas (*Gorilla gorilla*) and Eastern Gorillas (*Gorilla beringei*). This initial splitting event is estimated to have occurred in a considerable timeframe spanning from 0.9 million years ago up to 1.6 million years ago. This deep separation established the geographic and genetic boundaries that define the two distinct species recognized today, long before more recent climate-driven splits occurred within the western group itself.
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