Chocolate Root vs Gorila Occidental

Geum rivale compared with Gorilla gorilla

Key Differences

Chocolate Root is Extinct while Gorila Occidental is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocolate Root	Gorila Occidental
Kingdom	Plantae (planta)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Rosales (Roses & Allies)	Primates (Primates)
Family	Rosaceae (Rose Family)	Hominidae (Great Apes)
Genus	Geum	Gorilla (Gorillas)
Species	Geum rivale	Gorilla gorilla

Conservation Status

Chocolate Root

EX — Extinct

Gorila Occidental

CR — Critically Endangered

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocolate Root	Gorila Occidental
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	1.7 m
Average Weight	—	160.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocolate Root

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Europe (7 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Gorila Occidental

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Cameroon, Congo (Republic), Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chocolate Root

Chocolate Root (Geum rivale), also called Water Avens or Indian Chocolate, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Rosaceae, native to cool, moist habitats across Europe, northern Asia, and North America, where it grows in wet meadows, fens, stream banks, and damp woodlands. It produces pinnate leaves with a large terminal leaflet and drooping, nodding flowers whose petals are cream to pink and surrounded by distinctive purplish-red sepals giving the flower a nodding, bell-like appearance when closed. The nodding habit is an adaptation for rain-pollination avoidance, and fertilised flowers develop achene fruits topped with hooked styles for animal dispersal. The name Chocolate Root refers to the aromatic rhizome, which has been used traditionally as a chocolate-like flavouring in beverages and as a medicinal herb with astringent and tonic properties. The IUCN classifies Geum rivale as Extinct in certain regional contexts — notably in some lowland British localities where wetland drainage, river modification, and agricultural intensification have eliminated populations — though the species remains widespread and Least Concern across its global range. Its continued survival depends on the protection of wetland habitats, and it is used as an indicator of ancient, species-rich wetland communities of conservation importance.

Gorila Occidental

El primate más grande del mundo, los gorilas occidentales pesan hasta 180 kg y habitan los bosques tropicales y subtropicales del África ecuatorial. Principalmente herbívoros, viven en grupos familiares liderados por un macho de espalda plateada que protege la tropa y media en los conflictos sociales. En Peligro Crítico, con poblaciones amenazadas por la deforestación, la caza furtiva para la venta de carne de monte y los brotes del virus del Ébola.