Zoology

(one of the group of biological sciences, each of which deals with an aspect of the study of living things)

The fundamentals of the science of zoology

Biology is the most inclusive of the sciences dealing with study of living things because it is concerned with all forms of life and with the principles that have been discovered in the study of living things.

Humans have divided life into two broad categories of animals and plants from the earliest of times. The special science of animal life and organization is zoology, and the special science of plant life is botany.

Although the concepts of biology underlie both of these branches, it is possible to obtain a closer view of individual forms of life in each category if we study them separately.

Separately from the division into animal and plant studies, the biological sciences are subdivided into a number of major categories which either apply to both of the large divisions of biology or have counterparts in the two divisions.

Major categories which apply to the biological sciences

anatomy
The study of the internal structure of an animal.
cytology
The study of the structure and functions of living cells.
ecology
The study of the relations of animals with their surroundings or environments.
embryology
The study of the growth and development of an animal within the egg or its mother's body.
genetics
The study of the passage of traits from parents to offspring.
histology
The study of animal tissues with the microscope.
morphology
The study of the form and structure of an animal viewed externally.
physiology
The study of the life processes that go on within animals.
taxonomy
The science of naming and classifying living things (plants and animals).
—Compiled from information presented by
Essentials of Zoology by Leon Augustus Hausman;
Doubleday & Company, Inc.; Garden City, New York; 1963; pages 3 & 4.