Facts on Zoology

Zoology is a scientific niche that focuses on different aspects of the study of animals through a host of factors. In this article, we take a look at facts on zoology.

Human beings have long displayed an inquisitive trait. This has led us to investigate the world around us and also try to improve upon it. This has been a positive development to the extent that it has given us a relative life of comfort, but it has also given us huge negatives like atomic weapons that we can use to destroy ourselves. Regardless, zoology is a branch of science based on our inquisitiveness into the animal kingdom. Let’s take a look at the facts surrounding it.


Zoology can accurately be described as a niche of the science known as biology. Whereas biology studies life in general, zoology focuses on all aspects of animal life. While zoology can be used as a general term to describe this niche, most zoologist focus on very specific sub-niches within it including either a specific species of animal or type of biological conduct such as communication.

The identity of the first zoologist is hotly debated as there is no firm record. Aristotle is generally considered a good starting point as he kept detailed journals on his studies of which Physiologus is considered the seminal piece. That being said, animal studies were also underway in what is today the Middle East and Asia. Arab scientist wrote the Book of Animals in roughly 805 while Su Song published similar studies in China in the 1030s. Zoology took off after that. The most famous piece ever written was, of course, the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859.



The field of zoology is often remaking itself. Currently, there are 10 classifications that are currently accepted. They are descriptive zoology, molecular biology, animal physiology, ethology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, palaeontology, entomology and systematics. Many of these can be seen in shows on the animal planet channel as scientist attempt to study and better understand the animal world.

Zoology is an all encompassing field when it comes to the study of animals, so any discussion of the facts of zoology is necessarily incomplete. If you have a love of animals, studying specific niches can really become very rewarding.

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