Introduction, Scope, Significane and Applications

Zoology:
The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion ('animal'), and λόγος, logos ('knowledge',
'study').
Zoology is the branch of biology concerned with the study animals and animal kingdom. It is also
known as animal biology. The study of zoology includes the interaction of animal kingdom in their
ecosystems such as classification, habitats, structure, embryology, distribution, evolution, and
extinct species. Zoology is the division of biology that deals with the animal kingdom. It is the
scientific study related to the entire species of the animal kingdom.
An ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was a first-person to broadly classify the living things in
the 4th century BC. Firstly he divided living things into animals and plants and then continued
with his further classifications. Later the words like biology, botany, and zoology came into
existence.
The study of zoology includes animals physiology, their behaviour, and their interaction with
other species in their environment. It is a huge course that includes the distribution of every animal
species on earth including extinct animals. Apart from the animal kingdom and ecosystem,
zoology also explores the new areas of research.
Later, Aristotle divided animals into two classes: one with red-blood and another without such as
insects and crustaceans. Then, he further classified creatures into those who were able to
walk, flow and swim. The classification by Aristotle was followed until the 16th century, during
the Age of enlightenment, scientists finally began to research closely. Now, zoology has become
much more complex, where the living things are divided into five kingdoms, in which animal
kingdom themselves divided into several smaller categories of Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus and, finally, Species.
The Greek physician Galen studied human anatomy and was one of the greatest surgeons of the
ancient world, but after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the onset of the Early Middle
Ages, the Greek tradition of medicine and scientific study went into decline in Western Europe,
although it continued in the medieval Islamic world. Modern zoology has its origins during
the Renaissance and early modern period, with Carl Linnaeus, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Robert
Hooke, Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel and many others.
The study of animals has largely moved on to deal with form and function, adaptations,
relationships between groups, behaviour and ecology. Zoology has increasingly been subdivided
into disciplines such as classification, physiology, biochemistry and evolution. With the discovery
of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953, the realm of molecular
biology opened up, leading to advances in cell biology, developmental biology and molecular
genetics.
Scope
Zoology is the branch of science dealing with animals. A species can be defined as the largest
group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sex can produce fertile
offspring; about 1.5 million species of animal have been described and it has been estimated that
as many as 8 million animal species may exist. An early necessity was to identify the organisms
and group them according to their characteristics, differences and relationships, and this is the field
of the taxonomist. Originally it was thought that species were immutable, but with the arrival of
Darwin's theory of evolution, the field of cladistics came into being, studying the relationships
between the different groups or clades. Systematics is the study of the diversification of living
forms, the evolutionary history of a group is known as its phylogeny, and the relationship between
the clades can be shown diagrammatically in a cladogram.
Although someone who made a scientific study of animals would historically have described
themselves as a zoologist, the term has come to refer to those who deal with individual animals,
with others describing themselves more specifically as physiologists, ethologists, evolutionary
biologists, ecologists, pharmacologists, endocrinologists or parasitologists.
Branches of Zoology
The study of animal life is ancient, but its scientific incarnation is relatively modern. Until the
comparative anatomical study on morphographs by Hunter and Cuvier, the modern areas of
zoological investigations have occurred. Gradually zoology expanded behind the comparative
anatomy to include the following sub-disciplines:
• Entomology is the study of insects.

• Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.
• Ichthyology is the study of fishes.
• Invertebrate zoology is the study of these animals that do not have a backbone.
• Malacology is the study of molluscs.
• Mammalogy is the study of mammals.
• Ornithology is the study of birds.
• Primatology is the study of primates.
• Ecology studies how animals interact with the environment.
• Embryology is the study of animal development before birth.
• Ethology studies the behaviour of animals.
• Palaeontology is the study of fossils.
• Socio-biology studies the ecology, behaviour and evolution of the social animals like
schooling fish, bees, ants, and humans.
Significance or applications of Zoology
Zoology makes a huge impact on our world through the scientific study of the evolution, anatomy,
physiology, behavior, habitats, and health of animals and humans. It includes diverse approaches
such as electron microscopy, molecular genetics, and field ecology.
By studying animals we develop a better understanding of how we, ourselves, function and interact
with the world around us. The search for answers to our questions puts us in the incredible position
of being able to affect change, empower better choices, and develop solutions for a stronger,
healthier world.
1. To know animal world. • 2. Classification. • 3. Application in practical life. • a) In the

development of agriculture. • b) Medical science. • c) Animal husbandry. • d) Poultry farming . •
e) Pisciculture .

Introduction, Scope, Significane and Applications

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Zoology:

• Entomology is the study of insects.

Significance or applications of Zoology

1. To know animal world. • 2. Classification. • 3. Application in practical life. • a) In the

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