discover the biological sciences

Discover the Biological Sciences

The introductory information for this site has been contributed as a joint assignment by students in Bio. Sci. 10.

Zoology

By: Jessica Vieira

Discovering Zoology

For this assignment I chose to research a biological science that has always interested me, zoology. Zoology is defined as the branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

Also zoology involves research in many aspects of animal life such as behavior, diet, evolution, and distribution.

Through zoology, researchers can study and learn a mince amount of information. Zoology allows researchers to view certain characteristics within animals and learn how those characteristics are passed on from one generation to another. To me this is one of the most important concepts within this biological science. When researchers are able to identify certain characteristics between a species and watch that characteristic form and be passed to the next generation, it is an insight into evolution. Zoologist are able to identify traits among a species that are useful , and view how these traits are passed on and how they become so beneficial to the species. This is truly amazing. Another major section of zoology is the ability of the zoologist to observe the development of species. It is important for researchers to know what is necessary for species to develop healthily, this way animals kept in captivity (zoos, refugees, ect.) can be well taken care for. This logic can also be applied to animals of the wild as well. By knowing what a certain species requires in order to be healthy and develop normally, researchers within this field will have the tools to protect endangered species, or know how to treat an injured or unhealthy animal. Knowledge on the development of species is important to maintaining the health of the animals.

For this assignment I went through many different websites and articles and as I was scanning the articles on zoology and reviewing the many websites I came across some very interesting facts regarding rare species of animals. The most interesting to me was an article done by a zoologist who had study a certain species of fish. This parasitic catfish lives entirely out of the water, and breathes through it’s skin. With wormlike movements, this bright red, blind fish slithers around on the banks of the Amazon. Zoology is able to provide insight on animals that most of us never even think about. Without zoology we would have no information regarding the development of animals, the evolution of animals or classification of animals.

For this project I primarily used three websites, they are:

http://animals.about.com/od/zoology12/Zoology.htm

http://departments.weber.edu/zoology/What%20is%20Zoology.htm

http://www.giantflightlessbirds.com/zoologyfacts/

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