Chp 2 The Science of Zoology

• Zoology, also known as animal science, is the branch of biology devoted to the study of animal life.
• Zoology covers areas ranging from the structure of organisms to the subcellular unit of life.
• Zoology is both descriptive and analytical.
• Aristotle devised the system of classifying animals that recognized similarities among diverse organisms in the fourth century B.C.E.; he arranged groups of animals according to mode of reproduction and habitat.
• Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, developed a system of nomenclature—the binomial system of genus and species—and established it as a discipline of taxonomy.
• Zoology includes genetics and biochemistry.
• Two major subdisciplines of zoology are Vertebrate Zoology, which studies animals that have backbones, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and Invertebrate zoology, which studies animals that lack backbones, including insects, spiders, crustaceans, worms, shellfish, and others.
• Another way of subdividing zoology is into different types of characteristics.
• Anatomy or anatomical zoology is concerned with the structural characteristics of animals.
• Taxonomy or taxonomic zoology is concerned with the way animals are named and classified.
• Animal physiology studies the functions and metabolic processes that support life in animals.
• Animal behavior (Ethology) studies the behavioral characteristics and patterns of animals.
• Animal genetics, which studies the hereditary characteristics of animals, is a part of zoology.
• Animal Development studies how animals grow and develop from the time of fertilization to their full adult form in the case of sexually reproduced organisms as well as in the beginning of life of asexually reproduced animals.