Are Apes Really That Much Stronger Than Humans?

[Line]

I was reading somewhere that apes liek gorillas,chimpanzees and orangutangs are like 10-12 times strongr than we are.

Is that true, t,they say even though they're our size they can be up to 12 times stronger. Gorillaz are about our size but still can't see them being 12 times stronger. Chimps are little creatures compared to us.Can they really be supreme for their small muscle volume?

 

[selfAdjoint]

Chimpanzees pull stength is indeed ten times a strong man's. But think, the Chimp has to live and move through the trees, and the man doesn't.

 

[Line]

Well I was reading on Google that Chims are 3-5 the stregnth of men.

 

[AO eye 5]

Primate physiology

In my intro PHY course, the instructor pointed out that a longer lever arm for the primates arm explains the torque advantages in comparison to humans. However, I do not know whether primate musculature is significantly different from human muscle.

Regards

 

[Phobos]

Interesting little tidbit on this topic...
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_001b.html

In tests at the Bronx Zoo in 1924, a dynamometer--a scale that measures the mechanical force of a pull on a spring--was erected in the monkey house. A 165-pound male chimpanzee named "Boma" registered a pull of 847 pounds, using only his right hand (although he did have his feet braced against the wall, being somewhat hip, in his simian way, to the principles of leverage). A 165-pound man, by comparison, could manage a one-handed pull of about 210 pounds. Even more frightening, a female chimp, weighing a mere 135 pounds and going by the name of Suzette, checked in with a one-handed pull of 1,260 pounds. (She was in a fit of passion at the time; one shudders to think what her boyfriend must have looked like next morning.) In dead lifts, chimps have been known to manage weights of 600 pounds without even breaking into a sweat. A male gorilla could probably heft an 1,800-pound weight and not think twice about it.

 

[Gokul43201]

Gorillaz are about our size but still can't see them being 12 times stronger.

About our size? Here's a picture I took at the zoo the other day...

 

[Phobos]

I wonder if Bonobos have a strength intermediate to that of humans & other chimps.

 

[russ_watters]

About our size? Here's a picture I took at the zoo the other day...

He looks pissed - like he's looking around for his waiter (how long does it take to pour me a beer?)!

[no, I have nothing else to contribute to this thread]

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Urang Utans are about four and a half feet tall but weigh in at around 165lbs. Where does the extra weight come from, muscle density. It's not hard to see why a gorilla is capable of inhuman feats of strength, if we met a Neanderthal we would consider it's physical strength extraordinary, but if you look at it's heavier bone structure it's not hard to see they had to support and undergo much greater loads and therefore they were much stronger.

Gorillas can weight anything up to 600lbs and average the same sort of heights as humans, it's not hard to see where there strength comes from. Gorillas are considered quite placid and shy in relation to other primates, they have a bad press, especially when you compare them to the most aggressive and dangerous primate of all

Edited: wrong species, oops.

 

[Line]

About our size? Here's a picture I took at the zoo the other day...

ZYes they are about our height and size. They're not huge or tall liek elphants, giraffes, or even nears. Blue whale,gorilla, human which one doesn't belong?

 

[Another God]

Well I was reading on Google that Chims are 3-5 the stregnth of men.

Google has a zoology section now?