Morphology and Physiology
The Bili ape has been reported to walk upright, bipedally, at times, with the looks of a giant chimpanzee. Later observations by Hicks revealed that they are knuckle-walkers like other chimpanzees that only occasionally walk bipedally. Their footprints, which range from 28 to 34 centimeters, are longer than the largest common chimp and gorilla footprints, which average 26 cm and 29 cm, respectively. Hicks's team, in a year and a half of study, found no footprints longer than 30 cm, and most have been smaller.
According to Williams, "They have a very flat face, a wide muzzle and their brow-ridge runs straight across and overhangs. They seem to turn grey very early in life, but instead of turning grey-black like a gorilla, they turn grey all over." They develop uniform grey fur independently of age and sex, which suggests that greying takes place early in life-opposed to all known gorilla species, where only males gray as they age, with graying restricted to their backs.
Bili ape skulls have the prominent brow ridge and may sometimes have a sagittal crest similar to that of a gorilla, but other morphological measurements are more like those of chimpanzees. Only one of the many skulls found at Bili had a sagittal crest, thus it cannot yet be considered typical for the population. Chimpanzee skulls are 190 to 210 millimeters long, but four of five Bili ape skulls measured more than 220 millimeters, well beyond the end of the normal chimpanzee range.
Female Bili apes have genital swellings similar to other chimpanzees.
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