zoology

Also known as animal biology, animal science, zoological science

Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one of the primary branches of biology. The term is derived .

AI overview

Zoology is the scientific study of animals, examining their structure, development, classification, behavior, and distribution across the globe. It matters because it helps us understand how animals function, evolve, and interact with their environments—knowledge essential for conservation, medicine, and comprehending life on Earth.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 7,076 inbound references to zoology, and connects out to herpetology, Animalia and human.

It is catalogued under topics including Branches of biology and Zoology.

Vinony links it to 159 Wikipedia language editions.

Research

133,910 papers

Is "zoology" dead?Zoology (Jena, Germany) · 2021Bosch TCGDOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2021.125971
Integrated Zoology calls for papers: special issue on wildlife diseases and parasitology.Integrative zoology · 2024Matta NE, Xiong WDOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12825
Integrated Zoology's collection of Wildlife Diseases Research Network.Integrative zoology · 2024Xiong WDOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12826
Zoology.Science progress · 1946HOLMES W
Situating and teaching 21st century zoology: revealing pattern in the form and function of animals.ReviewIntegrative zoology · 2009Russell APDOI: 10.1111/j.1749-4877.2009.00165.x
2025 joint BMC ecology and evolution and BMC zoology image competition: the winning images.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Harman J, Fenton B, Ferrier D et al.DOI: 10.1186/s12862-025-02423-6
A landmark of Integrative Zoology's development.Integrative zoology · 2016Zhang ZDOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12230
The isolated zoologist.Zoology (Jena, Germany) · 2020Bosch TCGDOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2020.125857

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Animal diversity.jpg

Show 4 more facts

Stack Exchange tag: biology.stackexchange.com/tags/zoology
Commons category: Zoology
entry in abbreviations table: zoo.
short name: Zool.

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

17 sections

Contents

History
Scope
Branches of zoology
Classification
Vertebrate and invertebrate zoology
Structural zoology
Physiology
Developmental biology
Evolutionary biology
Ethology
Biogeography
Molecular biology
Reproduction
Animal cognition
See also
References
External links

Although humans have always been interested in the natural history of the animals they saw around them, and used this knowledge to domesticate certain species, the formal study of zoology can be said to have originated with Aristotle. He viewed animals as living organisms, studied their structure and development, and considered their adaptations to their surroundings and the function of their parts. 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “zoology” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.