Zoology - wikipedia Zoology For other uses, see Zoology ( disambiguation ). `` Animal biology '' redirects here. For the academic journal, see Animal Biology ( journal ). `` Zoologist '' redirects here. For the academic journal, see The Zoologist. Zoology ( / zuˈɒlədʒi, zoʊ - / ) or animal biology is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion, i.e. `` animal '' and λόγος, logos, i.e. `` knowledge, study ''. Contents 1 History 1.1 Ancient history to Darwin 1.2 Post-Darwin 2 Research 2.1 Structural 2.2 Physiological 2.3 Evolutionary 2.4 Classification 2.5 Ethology 2.6 Biogeography 3 Branches of zoology 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History Ancient history to Darwin Conrad Gesner ( 1516 -- 1565 ). His Historiae animalium is considered the beginning of modern zoology. Main article : History of zoology ( through 1859 ) The history of zoology traces the study of the animal kingdom from ancient to modern times. Although the concept of zoology as a single coherent field arose much later, the zoological sciences emerged from natural history reaching back to the biological works of Aristotle and Galen in the ancient Greco - Roman world. This ancient work was further developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians and scholars such as Albertus Magnus. During the Renaissance and early modern period, zoological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism and the discovery of many novel organisms. Prominent in this movement were Vesalius and William Harvey, who used experimentation and careful observation in physiology, and naturalists such as Carl Linnaeus, Jean - Baptiste Lamarck, and Buffon who began to classify the diversity of life and the fossil record, as well as the development and behavior of organisms. Microscopy revealed the previously unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, encouraged the growth of natural history ( although it entrenched the argument from design ). Over the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Explorer - naturalists such as Alexander von Humboldt investigated the interaction between organisms and their environment, and the ways this relationship depends on geography, laying the foundations for biogeography, ecology and ethology. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction and the mutability of species. Cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. Post-darwin Main article : History of zoology ( since 1859 ) These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of organic evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur, and provided observational evidence that it had done so. Darwin gave a new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a common biological theory : the theory of organic evolution. The result was a reconstruction of the classification of animals upon a genealogical basis, fresh investigation of the development of animals, and early attempts to determine their genetic relationships. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation and the rise of the germ theory of disease, though the mechanism of inheritance remained a mystery. In the early 20th century, the rediscovery of Mendel 's work led to the rapid development of genetics, and by the 1930s the combination of population genetics and natural selection in the modern synthesis created evolutionary biology. Research Structural Cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behavior, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single - celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the specialized cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences. The similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology. Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems. It focuses on how organs and organ systems work together in the bodies of humans and animals, in addition to how they work independently. Anatomy and cell biology are two studies that are closely related, and can be categorized under `` structural '' studies. Physiological Animal anatomical engraving from Handbuch der Anatomie der Tiere für Künstler. Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the structures function as a whole. The theme of `` structure to function '' is central to biology. Physiological studies have traditionally been divided into plant physiology and animal physiology, but some principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular organism is being studied. For example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of human physiology to non-human species. Physiology studies how for example nervous, immune, endocrine, respiratory, and circulatory systems, function and interact. Evolutionary Evolutionary research is concerned with the origin and descent of species, as well as their change over time, and includes scientists from many taxonomically oriented disciplines. For example, it generally involves scientists who have special training in particular organisms such as mammalogy, ornithology, herpetology, or entomology, but use those organisms as systems to answer general questions about evolution. Evolutionary biology is partly based on paleontology, which uses the fossil record to answer questions about the mode and tempo of evolution, and partly on the developments in areas such as population genetics and evolutionary theory. Following the development of DNA fingerprinting techniques in the late 20th century, the application of these techniques in zoology has increased the understanding of animal populations. In the 1980s, developmental biology re-entered evolutionary biology from its initial exclusion from the modern synthesis through the study of evolutionary developmental biology. Related fields often considered part of evolutionary biology are phylogenetics, systematics, and taxonomy. Classification Scientific classification in zoology, is a method by which zoologists group and categorize organisms by biological type, such as genus or species. Biological classification is a form of scientific taxonomy. Modern biological classification has its root in the work of Carl Linnaeus, who grouped species according to shared physical characteristics. These groupings have since been revised to improve consistency with the Darwinian principle of common descent. Molecular phylogenetics, which uses DNA sequences as data, has driven many recent revisions and is likely to continue to do so. Biological classification belongs to the science of zoological systematics. Linnaeus 's table of the animal kingdom from the first edition of Systema Naturae ( 1735 ). Many scientists now consider the five - kingdom system outdated. Modern alternative classification systems generally start with the three - domain system : Archaea ( originally Archaebacteria ) ; Bacteria ( originally Eubacteria ) ; Eukaryota ( including protists, fungi, plants, and animals ) These domains reflect whether the cells have nuclei or not, as well as differences in the chemical composition of the cell exteriors. Further, each kingdom is broken down recursively until each species is separately classified. The order is : Domain ; kingdom ; phylum ; class ; order ; family ; genus ; species. The scientific name of an organism is generated from its genus and species. For example, humans are listed as Homo sapiens. Homo is the genus, and sapiens the specific epithet, both of them combined make up the species name. When writing the scientific name of an organism, it is proper to capitalize the first letter in the genus and put all of the specific epithet in lowercase. Additionally, the entire term may be italicized or underlined. The dominant classification system is called the Linnaean taxonomy. It includes ranks and binomial nomenclature. The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature of zoological organisms is administered by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A merging draft, BioCode, was published in 1997 in an attempt to standardize nomenclature, but has yet to be formally adopted. Ethology Kelp gull chicks peck at red spot on mother 's beak to stimulate the regurgitating reflex. Ethology is the scientific and objective study of animal behavior under natural conditions, as opposed to behaviourism, which focuses on behavioral response studies in a laboratory setting. Ethologists have been particularly concerned with the evolution of behavior and the understanding of behavior in terms of the theory of natural selection. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was Charles Darwin, whose book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, influenced many future ethologists. Biogeography Biogeography studies the spatial distribution of organisms on the Earth, focusing on topics like plate tectonics, climate change, dispersal and migration, and cladistics. The creation of this study is widely accredited to Alfred Russel Wallace, a British biologist who had some of his work jointly published with Charles Darwin. Branches of zoology Although the study of animal life is ancient, its scientific incarnation is relatively modern. This mirrors the transition from natural history to biology at the start of the 19th century. Since Hunter and Cuvier, comparative anatomical study has been associated with morphography, shaping the modern areas of zoological investigation : anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, teratology and ethology. Modern zoology first arose in German and British universities. In Britain, Thomas Henry Huxley was a prominent figure. His ideas were centered on the morphology of animals. Many consider him the greatest comparative anatomist of the latter half of the 19th century. Similar to Hunter, his courses were composed of lectures and laboratory practical classes in contrast to the previous format of lectures only. Gradually zoology expanded beyond Huxley 's comparative anatomy to include the following sub-disciplines : Zoography, also known as descriptive zoology, is the applied science of describing animals and their habitats Comparative anatomy studies the structure of animals Animal physiology Behavioral ecology Ethology studies animal behavior Invertebrate zoology Vertebrate zoology Soil zoology The various taxonomically oriented disciplines such as mammalogy, biological anthropology, herpetology, ornithology, and entomology identify and classify species and study the structures and mechanisms specific to those groups. Related fields : Evolutionary biology : Development of both animals and plants is considered in the articles on evolution, population genetics, heredity, variation, Mendelism, and reproduction. Molecular biology studies the common genetic and developmental mechanisms of animals and plants Palaeontology Systematics, cladistics, phylogenetics, phylogeography, biogeography, and taxonomy classify and group species via common descent and regional associations. See also Animal science, the biology of domesticated animals Astrobiology List of zoologists Outline of zoology Timeline of zoology Zoological distribution References Jump up ^ `` zoology ''. Online Etymology Dictionary. Jump up ^ Bayrakdar, Mehmet ( 1986 ). `` Al - Jahiz and the rise of biological evolution '' ( PDF ). Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi. 27 ( 1 ) : 307 -- 15. doi : 10.1501 / Ilhfak_0000000674. Retrieved 21 December 2012. Jump up ^ Paul S. Agutter & Denys N. Wheatley ( 2008 ). Thinking about Life : The History and Philosophy of Biology and Other Sciences. Springer. p. 43. ISBN 1 - 4020 - 8865 - 5. Jump up ^ Saint Albertus Magnus ( 1999 ). On Animals : A Medieval Summa Zoologica. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0 - 8018 - 4823 - 7. Jump up ^ Lois N. Magner ( 2002 ). A History of the Life Sciences, Revised and Expanded. CRC Press. pp. 133 -- 144. ISBN 0 - 8247 - 0824 - 5. Jump up ^ Jan Sapp ( 2003 ). `` Chapter 7 ''. Genesis : The Evolution of Biology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 - 19 - 515619 - 6. Jump up ^ William Coleman ( 1978 ). `` Chapter 2 ''. Biology in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 - 521 - 29293 - X. Jump up ^ Jerry A. Coyne ( 2009 ). Why Evolution is True. Oxford : Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 0 - 19 - 923084 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Appendix : Frequently Asked Questions ''. Science and Creationism : a view from the National Academy of Sciences ( php ) ( Second ed. ). Washington, DC : The National Academy of Sciences. 1999. p. 28. ISBN - 0 - 309 - 06406 - 6. Retrieved September 24, 2009. Jump up ^ Henry Gray ( 1918 ). Anatomy of the Human Body. Lea & Febiger. Jump up ^ Jablonski D ( 1999 ). `` The future of the fossil record ''. Science. 284 ( 5423 ) : 2114 -- 16. doi : 10.1126 / science. 284.5423. 2114. PMID 10381868. Jump up ^ John H. Gillespie ( 1998 ). Population Genetics : A Concise Guide. Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0 - 8018 - 8008 - 4. Jump up ^ Chambers, Geoffrey K. ; Curtis, Caitlin ; Millar, Craig D. ; Huynen, Leon ; Lambert, David M. ( 2014 - 01 - 01 ). `` DNA fingerprinting in zoology : past, present, future ''. Investigative Genetics. 5 : 3. doi : 10.1186 / 2041 - 2223 - 5 - 3. ISSN 2041 - 2223. PMC 3909909. PMID 24490906. Jump up ^ Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis ( 1996 ). Unifying Biology : The Evolutionary Synthesis and Evolutionary Biology. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0 - 691 - 03343 - 9. ^ Jump up to : Woese C, Kandler O, Wheelis M ( 1990 ). `` Towards a natural system of organisms : proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya ''. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 87 ( 12 ) : 4576 -- 9. Bibcode : 1990PNAS... 87.4576 W. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 87.12. 4576. PMC 54159. PMID 2112744. Jump up ^ Heather Silyn - Roberts ( 2000 ). Writing for Science and Engineering : Papers, Presentation. Oxford : Butterworth - Heinemann. p. 198. ISBN 0 - 7506 - 4636 - 5. Jump up ^ John McNeill ( 4 November 1996 ). `` The BioCode : Integrated biological nomenclature for the 21st century ? ''. Proceedings of a Mini-Symposium on Biological Nomenclature in the 21st Century. Jump up ^ `` Definition of ETHOLOGY ''. Merriam - Webster. Retrieved 30 October 2012. 2 : the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour especially under natural conditions Jump up ^ Black, J ( Jun 2002 ). `` Darwin in the world of emotions '' ( Free full text ). Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 95 ( 6 ) : 311 -- 3. doi : 10.1258 / jrsm. 95.6. 311. ISSN 0141 - 0768. PMC 1279921. PMID 12042386. Jump up ^ Wiley, R.H. ( 1981 ). `` Social structure and individual ontogenies : problems of description, mechanism, and evolution '' ( PDF ). Perspectives in ethology. 4 : 105 -- 133. Retrieved 21 December 2012. Jump up ^ `` zoology ''. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017 - 09 - 13. External links At Wikiversity, you can learn more and teach others about Zoology at the School of Zoology. Wikibooks has more on the topic of : Zoology Wikisource has original works on the topic : Zoology Books on Zoology at Project Gutenberg Online Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology Extant Animal phyla Domain Archaea Bacteria Eukaryota ( Supergroup Plant Hacrobia Heterokont Alveolata Rhizaria Excavata Amoebozoa Opisthokonta Animal Fungi ) Animalia Porifera ( sponges ) Diploblasts ( Eumetazoa ) Ctenophora ( comb jellies ) ParaHoxozoa Placozoa ( Trichoplax ) Planulozoa Cnidaria ( jellyfish and relatives ) Bilateria ( Triploblasts ) Xenacoelomorpha Xenoturbellida ( Xenoturbella ) Acoelomorpha acoels nemertodermatids Nephrozoa ( see below ↓ ) Nephrozoa Deuterostomia Chordata lancelets tunicates Vertebrata / Craniata Ambulacraria Echinodermata ( starfish and relatives ) Hemichordata acorn worms pterobranchs Protostomia Ecdysozoa Scalidophora Kinorhyncha ( mud dragons ) Priapulida ( penis worms ) N + L + P Nematoida Nematoda ( roundworms ) Nematomorpha ( horsehair worms ) L + P Loricifera ( corset animals ) Panarthropoda Onychophora ( velvet worms ) Tactopoda Arthropoda ( arthropods ) Tardigrada ( waterbears ) Spiralia Gnathifera 1 Chaetognatha ( arrow worms ) Gnathostomulida ( jaw worms ) M + S Micrognathozoa ( Limnognathia ) Syndermata Rotifera ( wheel animals ) Acanthocephala ( thorny - headed worms ) Platytrochozoa R + M Mesozoa Orthonectida Dicyemida or Rhombozoa Monoblastozoa ( Salinella ) Rouphozoa 1 Platyhelminthes ( flatworms ) Gastrotricha ( hairybacks ) Lophotrochozoa Cycliophora ( Symbion ) Annelida ( ringed worms ) M + K Mollusca ( molluscs ) Kryptotrochozoa Nemertea ( ribbon worms ) Lophophorata Bryozoa Entoprocta or Kamptozoa Ectoprocta ( moss animals ) Brachiozoa Brachiopoda ( lamp shells ) Phoronida ( horseshoe worms ) Major groups within phyla Sponges Hexactinellid Demosponge Calcareous Homoscleromorpha Cnidarians Anthozoa inc. corals Hexacorallia Octocorallia Medusozoa inc. jellyfish Myxozoa Vertebrates Jawless fish Cartilaginous fish Bony fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals Echinoderms Sea lilies Asterozoa inc. starfish Echinozoa Nematodes Chromadorea Enoplea Secernentea Arthropods Chelicerates / Arachnids Myriapods Crustaceans Hexapods / Insects Platyhelminths Turbellaria Trematoda Monogenea Cestoda Bryozoans Phylactolaemata Stenolaemata Gymnolaemata Annelids Polychaetes Clitellata Echiura Sipuncula Molluscs Gastropods Cephalopods Bivalves Chitons Tusk shells Phyla with ≥ 1000 extant species bolded See also Diploblasts 1 Platyzoa Biology Subdisciplines Anatomy Astrobiology Biogeography Biological anthropology Biomechanics Biophysics Bioinformatics Biostatistics Botany Cell biology Cellular microbiology Chemical biology Chronobiology Cognitive biology Computational biology Conservation biology Developmental biology Ecology Epidemiology Epigenetics Evolutionary biology Evolutionary developmental biology Genetics Genomics Histology Human biology Immunology Lipidology Marine biology Mathematical biology Microbiology Molecular biology Mycology Nanobiotechnology Neuroscience Nutrition Organic chemistry Paleontology Parasitology Pathology Pharmacology Physiology Psychology Quantum biology Reproductive biology Sociobiology Structural biology Systematics Systems biology Toxicology Virology Zoology Hierarchy of life Biosphere > Ecosystem > Community ( Biocoenosis ) > Population > Organism > Organ system > Organ > Tissue > Cell > Organelle > Biomolecular complex > Molecule ( Macromolecule, Biomolecule ) > Atom Foundations Cell theory Ecology Energy Transformation Evolution Genetics Homeostasis Synthetic biology Taxonomy Principles Evolution Adaptation Earliest known life forms Function Genetic drift Gene flow Macroevolution Microevolution Mutation Natural selection Speciation Ecology Biodiversity Biological interaction Community Ecosystem Habitat Niche Population dynamics Resources Molecular biology Cell signaling Development Epigenetics Gene regulation Meiosis Mitosis Post-transcriptional modification Biochemistry Carbohydrates Lipids Metabolism Nucleic acids Photosynthesis Proteins Glossaries Biology Botanical terms Ecological terms Plant morphology terms Category Commons Portal WikiProject Zoology Branches Apiology Arachnology Arthropodology Batrachology Biological Anthropology Cetology Coleopterology Conchology Entomology Ethology Helminthology Herpetology ( Ophiology ) Ichthyology Lepidopterology Malacology ( Teuthology ) Mammalogy Myrmecology Nematology Neuroethology Ornithology Parasitology Paleozoology Planktology Primatology Zooarchaeology Zoologists Karl Ernst von Baer Georges Cuvier Charles Darwin Jean - Henri Fabre William Kirby Carl Linnaeus Konrad Lorenz Thomas Say Jakob von Uexküll Alfred Russel Wallace more... History Pre-Darwin Post-Darwin Timeline of zoology Animals portal Biology portal Category Zoos, aquariums and aviaries Types of zoos Animal sanctuary Animal theme park Aquarium Aviary Bear pit Butterfly house Dolphinarium Herpetarium Insectarium Nature center Marine mammal park Menagerie Night safari Oceanarium Penguinarium Pheasantry Petting zoo Reptile centre Safari park Serpentarium Virtual zoo Vivarium Zoo Conservation Biodiversity Endangered species Ex situ conservation In situ conservation reintroduction Conservation biology Lists Aquariums Conservation topics Dolphinariums Zoos Zoo associations Other topics Animals in captivity Animal training Behavioral enrichment Captive breeding Frozen zoo Immersion exhibit Nocturnal house Wildlife conservation Zookeeper Zoological society Zoology Portal Category Animals portal Biology portal Palaeontology portal GND : 4067960 - 3 HDS : 8294 LCCN : sh85149983 NARA : 10642615 NDL : 00561544 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zoology&oldid=856990891 '' Categories : Zoology Branches of biology Hidden categories : Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with HDS identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NARA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiversity Afrikaans Alemannisch Aragonés Arpetan Asturianu Azərbaycanca বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Basa Banyumasan Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ भोजपुरी Български Boarisch Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština ChiShona Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Estremeñu Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Furlan Gaeilge Gaelg Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hornjoserbsce Hrvatski Ido Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Interlingue Ирон Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Kurdî Кыргызча Кырык мары Ladino Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Ligure Limburgs La. lojban. 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Question: name the branch of zoology that deals with the scientific study of animal behaviour
Answer: Ethology