Zoology - An Introduction to the Study of Animals

A SHORT HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY
Zoological science began first with the study of natural history by the ancient Greeks and Romans, like Aristotle and Galen. Further development occurred in the Middle Ages when Muslin physicians and scholars continued to study and document animal life.

In the Renaissance and early modern period, the study of zoological sciences was renewed in Europe. Leaders in these studies were scientists such as Andreas Vesalius (mid-1500's) and William Harvey (1600's), as well as naturalists such as Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in the 1700's.


BRANCHES OF ZOOLOGY
When microscopy was invented, even more forms of animal life were discovered and more scientists began to specialize in various zoological disciplines, including - but certainly not limited to - those noted below.

Acarology - the branch of zoology dealing with mites and ticks
Anthropology - the scientific study of humanity
Anthrozoology - the study of human-animal interaction
Apiology - the scientific study of honey bees
Arachnology - the study of arachnids (including spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks)
Arthropodology - the study of arthropods
Biogeography - the study of the spatial distribution of organisms on the Earth,
Cetology - the branch of zoology dealing with whales and dolphins.
Endocrinology - the branch of biology dealing with the endocrine glands
Entomology - the branch of zoology dealing with insects
Ethology - the study of animal behavior within their natural environments
Helminthology - the scientific study of worms, especially of parasitic worms
Herpetology - the branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians
Ichthyology - the branch of zoology dealing with fishes.
Malacology - the science dealing with the study of mollusks.
Mammalogy - the branch of zoology concerned with the study of mammals
Melittology - the scientific study of all bees
Myrmecology - the branch of zoology concerned with the study of ants
Nematology - the branch of zoology dealing with nematodes
Ornithology - the branch of zoology dealing with birds
Paleozoology - the branch of zooloy dealing with fossil animals
Parasitology - the branch of zoology dealing with parasites
Planktology - the scientific study of plankton
Primatology - the scientific study of primates
Protozoology - the branch of biology concerned with the study of protozoans
Zoography - the study of animals and their habitates, also known as descriptive zoology
Zoosemiotics - the study of animal communication


The study of zoology is more popular than ever, with an almost constant development of many new and intriguing sub-disciplines!