Zoology: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
TeaDrinker (talk | contribs) |
Blanked and added {{copyvio}} |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{copyvio|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110584/zoology}} |
|||
{{Zoology}} |
|||
'''Zoology''' (from Greek: ζῴον, ''zoion'', "animal"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the branch of [[biology]] that studies the members of the animal kingdom and animal life in general. It includes both the inquiry into individual animals and their constituent parts, even to the molecular level, and the inquiry into animal populations, entire faunas, and the relationships of animals to each other, to plants, and to the nonliving environment. Though this wide range of studies results in some isolation of specialties within zoology, the conceptual integration in the contemporary study of living things that has occurred in recent years emphasizes the structural and functional unity of life rather than its diversity. |
|||
==Name== |
|||
The pronunciation of "zoology" is {{IPA|/zoʊˈɑləʤɪ/}}, however an alternative pronunciation is {{IPA|/zuˈɑləʤɪ/}}<ref name = "dictionary">{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=zoology |title=Zoology |publisher=[[Dictionary.com]] |accessmonthday=26 April |accessyear=2007}}</ref>. Traditionally, the first syllable of zoology has been pronounced as (ō), rhyming with toe. However, most likely due to the familiarity of the word [[zoo]] (which is merely a shortened form of ''zoological garden''), the pronunciation of the first syllable as (ōō) is much more commonly heard. In 1999, 88 percent of the Panelists found the (zō-) pronunciation acceptable, and 60 percent found the (zōō-) pronunciation acceptable, with 68 percent using the (zō-) pronunciation and 32 percent using the (zōō-) pronunciation in their own speech. Thus, while both pronunciations can be considered acceptable, the (zō-) pronunciation may be perceived as more accurate. <ref name="dictionary"/>. |
|||
== The content of zoology== |
|||
The study of animal life is, of course, ancient: but as 'zoology' it is relatively modern, for what we call biology was known as '[[natural history]]' at the start of the nineteenth century. During the lifetime of [[Charles Darwin]] natural history turned from a gentlemanly pursuit to a modern scientific activity. Zoology as we know it was first established in German and British universities. Originally quite closely connected to medical training, it gradually gained its own identity as Darwin started to answer those fundamental historical questions which had been asked before him without much success. The institution of zoology training in British universities was mainly established by [[Thomas Henry Huxley]]. His ideas were centered on the morphology of animals: he was himself the greatest comparative anatomist of the second half of the nineteenth century. His courses were composed of lectures and laboratory practical classes; and his system became widely spread. |
|||
There was much left out by Huxley, especially the study of animals in their environment, which had been the main stimulus for both Darwin and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] (who both came up with the idea of [[natural selection]]). The fact that neither Darwin nor Wallace ever held a university teaching post may have contributed to this rather startling omission. Gradually Huxley's comparative anatomy was supplemented by other much-needed methods. The field of zoology in the twentieth century mainly comprised these approaches: |
|||
# [[Anatomy]] or [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]]: The identification and description of the body structures, including external form and internal organization of living things. |
|||
# [[Taxonomy]] or [[Systematics]]: The methodology and principles of systematic botany and zoology and sets up arrangements of the kinds of plants and animals in hierarchies of superior and subordinate groups. |
|||
# [[Physiology]]: Study of the functioning of living organisms, animal or plant, and of the functioning of their constituent tissues or cells. |
|||
# [[Embryology]] or Developmental Studies: The study of the formation and development of an embryo and fetus. |
|||
# [[Evolution]]ism: Study of the theory in biology postulating that the various types of plants, animals, and other living things on Earth have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations. |
|||
# [[Genetics]]: Study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. |
|||
# [[Cellular Biology|Cellular]] and [[Molecular Biology]]: Study of the chemical structures and processes of biological phenomena at the cellular and molecular level. |
|||
# [[Ecology]]: Study of the relationships between organisms and their environment. |
|||
# [[Ethology]]: Study of animal behavior |
|||
# Other Studies: Studies within zoology include [[mammalogy]], [[cetology]], [[paleozoology]], [[primatology]], [[herpetology]], and many more. |
|||
== Systems of classification == |
|||
{{main|Scientific classification}} |
|||
Morphography includes the systematic exploration and tabulation of the facts involved in the recognition of all the recent and extinct kinds of animals and their distribution in space and time. (1) The [[museum]]-makers of old days and their modern representatives the curators and describers of zoological collections, (2) early [[exploration|explorer]]s and modern naturalist travellers and writers on zoo-geography, and (3) [[collector]]s of [[fossil]]s and [[palaeontologist]]s are the chief varieties of zoological workers coming under this heading. Gradually, since the time of [[John Hunter (surgeon)|Hunter]] and [[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], [[anatomical]] study has associated itself with the more superficial morphography until today no one considers a study of animal form of any value which does not include internal structure, [[histology]] and [[embryology]] in its scope. |
|||
The real dawn of zoology after the legendary period of the [[Middle Ages]] is connected with the name of an [[Englishman]], [[Edward Edward Wotton]], born at [[Oxford]] in 1492, who practised as a [[physician]] in [[London]] and died in 1555. He published a treatise ''[[De differentiis animalium]]'' at [[Paris]] in 1552. In many respects Wotton was simply an exponent of [[Aristotle]], whose teaching, - with various fanciful additions, constituted the real basis of zoological knowledge throughout the Middle Ages. It was Wotton's merit that he rejected the legendary and fantastic accretions, and returned to Aristotle and the observation of nature. |
|||
The most ready means of noting the progress of zoology during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries is to compare Aristotle's classificatory conceptions of successive naturalists with those which are to be found in the works of [[Caldon]]. |
|||
==History== |
|||
{{main|History of zoology (before Darwin)|History of zoology (since Darwin)}} |
|||
Prehistoric man's survival as a hunter defined his relation to other animals, which were a source of food and danger. As man's cultural heritage developed, animals were variously incorporated into man's folklore and philosophical awareness as fellow living creatures. Domestication of animals forced man to take a systematic and measured view of animal life, especially after urbanization necessitated a constant and large supply of animal products. |
|||
Study of animal life by the ancient Greeks became more rational, if not yet scientific, in the modern sense, after the cause of disease—until then thought to be demons—was postulated by Hippocrates to result from a lack of harmonious functioning of body parts. The systematic study of animals was encouraged by Aristotle's extensive descriptions of living things, his work reflecting the Greek concept of order in nature and attributing to nature an idealized rigidity. |
|||
In Roman times [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] brought together in 37 volumes a treatise, Historia naturalis, that was an encyclopaedic compilation of both myth and fact regarding celestial bodies, geography, animals and plants, metals, and stone. Volumes VII to XI concern zoology; volume VIII, which deals with the land animals, begins with the largest one, the elephant. Although Pliny's approach was naïve, his scholarly effort had a profound and lasting influence as an authoritative work. |
|||
Zoology continued in the Aristotelian tradition for many centuries in the Mediterranean region and by the Middle Ages, in Europe, it had accumulated considerable folklore, superstition, and moral symbolisms, which were added to otherwise objective information about animals. Gradually, much of this misinformation was sifted out: naturalists became more critical as they compared directly observed animal life in Europe with that described in ancient texts. The use of the printing press in the 15th century made possible an accurate transmission of information. Moreover, mechanistic views of life processes (i.e., that physical processes depending on cause and effect can apply to animate forms) provided a hopeful method for analyzing animal functions; for example, the mechanics of hydraulic systems were part of William Harvey's argument for the circulation of the blood—although Harvey remained thoroughly Aristotelian in outlook. In the 18th century, zoology passed through reforms provided by both the system of nomenclature of Carolus Linnaeus and the comprehensive works on natural history by Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon; to these were added the contributions to comparative anatomy by Georges Cuvier in the early 19th century. |
|||
Physiological functions, such as digestion, excretion, and respiration, were easily observed in many animals, though they were not as critically analyzed as was blood circulation. |
|||
Following the introduction of the word cell in the 17th century and microscopic observation of these structures throughout the 18th century, the cell was incisively defined as the common structural unit of living things in 1839 by two Germans: Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann. In the meanwhile, as the science of chemistry developed, it was inevitably extended to an analysis of animate systems. In the middle of the 18th century the French physicist René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumer demonstrated that the fermenting action of stomach juices is a chemical process. And in the mid-19th century the French physician and physiologist Claude Bernard drew upon both the cell theory and knowledge of chemistry to develop the concept of the stability of the internal bodily environment, now called homeostasis. |
|||
The cell concept influenced many biological disciplines, including that of embryology, in which cells are important in determining the way in which a fertilized egg develops into a new organism. The unfolding of these events—called epigenesis by Harvey—was described by various workers, notably the German-trained comparative embryologist Karl von Baer, who was the first to observe a mammalian egg within an ovary. Another German-trained embryologist, Christian Heinrich Pander, introduced in 1817 the concept of germ, or primordial, tissue layers into embryology. |
|||
In the latter part of the 19th century, improved microscopy and better staining techniques using aniline dyes, such as hematoxylin, provided further impetus to the study of internal cellular structure. |
|||
By this time [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] had made necessary a complete revision of man's view of nature with his theory that biological changes in species occur through the process of natural selection. The theory of evolution—that organisms are continuously evolving into highly adapted forms—required the rejection of the static view that all species are especially created and upset the Linnaean concept of species types. Darwin recognized that the principles of heredity must be known to understand how evolution works; but, even though the concept of hereditary factors had by then been formulated by [[Gregor Mendel|Mendel]], Darwin never heard of his work, which was essentially lost until its rediscovery in 1900. |
|||
Genetics has developed in the 20th century and now is essential to many diverse biological disciplines. The discovery of the gene as a controlling hereditary factor for all forms of life has been a major accomplishment of modern biology. There has also emerged clearer understanding of the interaction of organisms with their environment. Such ecological studies help not only to show the interdependence of the three great groups of organisms—plants, as producers; animals, as consumers; and fungi and many bacteria, as decomposers—but they also provide information essential to man's control of the environment and, ultimately, to his survival on Earth. Closely related to this study of ecology are inquiries into animal behaviour, or ethology. Such studies are often cross disciplinary in that ecology, physiology, genetics, development, and evolution are combined as man attempts to understand why an organism behaves as it does. This approach now receives substantial attention because it seems to provide useful insight into man's biological heritage—that is, the historical origin of man from nonhuman forms. |
|||
The emergence of animal biology has had two particular effects on classical zoology. First, and somewhat paradoxically, there has been a reduced emphasis on zoology as a distinct subject of scientific study; for example, workers think of themselves as geneticists, ecologists, or physiologists who study animal rather than plant material. They often choose a problem congenial to their intellectual tastes, regarding the organism used as important only to the extent that it provides favourable experimental material. Current emphasis is, therefore, slanted toward the solution of general biological problems; contemporary zoology thus is to a great extent the sum total of that work done by biologists pursuing research on animal material. |
|||
Second, there is an increasing emphasis on a conceptual approach to the life sciences. This has resulted from the concepts that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: the cell theory; natural selection and evolution; the constancy of the internal environment; the basic similarity of genetic material in all living organisms; and the flow of matter and energy through ecosystems. The lives of microbes, plants, and animals now are approached using theoretical models as guides rather than by following the often restricted empiricism of earlier times. This is particularly true in molecular studies, in which the integration of biology with chemistry allows the techniques and quantitative emphases of the physical sciences to be used effectively to analyze living systems. |
|||
==Notable zoologists== |
|||
{{main|List of zoologists}} |
|||
''In alphabetical order by surname:'' |
|||
* [[Louis Agassiz]] ([[malacology]], [[ichthyology]]) |
|||
* [[Aristotle]] |
|||
* [[David Attenborough]] |
|||
* [[Henry Walter Bates]] ([[Batesian mimicry]], [[Amazon Basin|Amazon]]) |
|||
* [[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre]] |
|||
* [[William H. Cade]] ([[Evolution of insect mating behavior]]) |
|||
* [[Rachel Carson]] ([[marine biologist]]) |
|||
* [[Archie Carr]] ([[Herpetology]], esp. sea turtles) |
|||
* [[Archie Carr III]], ([[mammal|wild mammals]]) |
|||
* [[Eugenie Clark]] ([[Ichthyology]]) |
|||
* [[Jeff Corwin]] ([[herpetology]]) |
|||
* [[Georges Cuvier]] (founder of [[comparative morphology]]) |
|||
* [[Charles Darwin]] ([[theory of evolution]], [[natural selection]]) |
|||
* [[Richard Dawkins]] ([[ethology]]) |
|||
* [[George A. Feldhamer]] ([[mammalogy]]) |
|||
* [[William Flower]] ([[mammals]]) |
|||
* [[Edmund Brisco Ford]] ([[ecological genetics]]) |
|||
* [[Dian Fossey]] ([[primatology]]) |
|||
* [[Birutė Galdikas]] ([[primatology]]) |
|||
* [[Jane Goodall]] ([[primatology]]) |
|||
* [[Arthur Davis Hasler]] ([[limnology]], [[ichthyology]], salmon homing) |
|||
* [[Victor Hensen]] ([[planktology]]) |
|||
* [[Julian Huxley]] ([[evolutionary synthesis]], [[humanism]], [[World Wildlife Fund]], [[UNESCO]]) |
|||
* [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] ([[evolution]], Darwin's bulldog, [[agnosticism]], [[science education]]) |
|||
* [[Libbie Hyman]] ([[invertebrate zoology]]) |
|||
* [[Steve Irwin]] ([[herpetology]]) |
|||
* [[William Kirby (entomologist)|William Kirby]] (father of [[entomology]]) |
|||
* [[Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke]] ([[ornithology]], [[herpetology]]) |
|||
* [[E. Ray Lankester]] (zoology and [[comparative anatomy]]) |
|||
* [[Carolus Linnaeus]] (father of [[systematics]]) |
|||
* [[Konrad Lorenz]] ([[ethology]]) |
|||
* [[David W. Macdonald]] ([[mammal|wild mammals]]) |
|||
* [[John Maynard Smith]] ([[evolution]], [[genetics]]) |
|||
* [[Ernst Mayr]] ([[evolutionary biology|evolutionary biologist]]) |
|||
* [[Montgomery Montgomery]] ([[Herpetology]]) |
|||
* [[Fritz Müller]] ([[evolution]], [[Müllerian mimicry]], [[Brazil]]) |
|||
* [[Desmond Morris]] ([[ethology]]) |
|||
* [[Ron Nowak]] ([[mammal|wild mammals]]) |
|||
* [[Richard Owen]] ([[vertebrate palaeontology]], [[dinosaurs]], [[Natural History Museum]]) |
|||
* [[Roger Tory Peterson]] ([[ornithology]]) |
|||
* [[William Emerson Ritter]] ([[marine biology]]) |
|||
* [[Thomas Say]] ([[entomology]]) |
|||
* [[Shen Kuo]] (medieval Chinese zoologist) |
|||
* [[Su Song]] (medieval Chinese zoologist) |
|||
* [[Jakob van Uexküll]] (animal behavior, [[invertebrate zoology]]) |
|||
* [[Ernest P. Walker]] ([[mammal|wild mammals]]) |
|||
* [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] ([[natural selection]], [[zoogeography]], animal colouration, [[Amazon Basin|Amazon]], [[East Indies]]) |
|||
* [[E.O. Wilson]] ([[entomology]], especially [[ants]], founder of [[sociobiology]]) |
|||
* [[Robert Broom]] |
|||
== See also == |
|||
* [[Zoological distribution]] |
|||
* [[Zootomy]] - the study of animal anatomy or animal dissection |
|||
* [[Cryptozoology]] - the psuedoscientific study of hidden or unknown animals |
|||
* [[Palaeontology]] |
|||
* [[Oceanography]] |
|||
* [[Entomology]] - the area of biology which studies [[insect]]s |
|||
* [[Botany]] - the area of biology which studies [[plant]]s |
|||
* [[Microtomy]] |
|||
* [[List of zoologists]] |
|||
* [[List of publications in biology#Zoology|Important Publications in Zoology]] |
|||
* [[Anthrozoology]] |
|||
* [[Animals in Buddhism]] |
|||
* [[Islam and animals]] |
|||
==Sources and external links== |
|||
{{wikibooks}} |
|||
{{WVS}} |
|||
*''[http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Invertebrate_Zoology A Study Guide to Invertebrate Zoology]'' ~ at ''Wikibooks'' |
|||
*''[http://www.animaldiversity.org An online encyclopedia of zoology]'' |
|||
*''[http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/onlinedictinvertzoology/ Online Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology]'' |
|||
*''[http://www.digitalzoology.com An online dissection pictures of animals]'' |
|||
*''[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zoology Dictionary.com's discussion of pronunciation] |
|||
<br clear="both" /> |
|||
==References== |
|||
<references/> |
|||
{{Biology-footer}} |
|||
{{1911}} |
|||
[[Category:Zoology|*]] |
|||
[[Category:Greek loanwords]] |
|||
[[af:Dierkunde]] |
|||
[[ar:علم الحيوان]] |
|||
[[an:Zoolochía]] |
|||
[[frp:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[bn:প্রাণিবিজ্ঞান]] |
|||
[[bs:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[br:Loenoniezh]] |
|||
[[bg:Зоология]] |
|||
[[ca:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[cs:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[da:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[de:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[el:Ζωολογία]] |
|||
[[es:Zoología]] |
|||
[[eo:Zoologio]] |
|||
[[eu:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[fa:جانورشناسی]] |
|||
[[fr:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[fy:Soölogy]] |
|||
[[fur:Zoologjie]] |
|||
[[gl:Zooloxía]] |
|||
[[ko:동물학]] |
|||
[[hi:प्राणी विज्ञान]] |
|||
[[hsb:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[hr:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[io:Zoologio]] |
|||
[[id:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[ia:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[os:Зоологи]] |
|||
[[is:Dýrafræði]] |
|||
[[it:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[he:זואולוגיה]] |
|||
[[lad:Zoolojia]] |
|||
[[la:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[lv:Zooloģija]] |
|||
[[lb:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[lt:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[hu:Zoológia]] |
|||
[[mk:Зоологија]] |
|||
[[ms:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[nl:Zoölogie]] |
|||
[[ja:動物学]] |
|||
[[jv:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[no:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[nn:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[nrm:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[oc:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[nds:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[pl:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[pt:Zoologia]] |
|||
[[ro:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[qu:Suwuluhiya]] |
|||
[[ru:Зоология]] |
|||
[[sco:Zoologie]] |
|||
[[ru-sib:Амитанознайсво]] |
|||
[[sq:Zoologjia]] |
|||
[[scn:Zuoluggìa]] |
|||
[[simple:Zoology]] |
|||
[[sk:Zoológia]] |
|||
[[sl:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[sr:Зоологија]] |
|||
[[sh:Zoologija]] |
|||
[[fi:Eläintiede]] |
|||
[[sv:Zoologi]] |
|||
[[ta:விலங்கியல்]] |
|||
[[tet:Zoolojia]] |
|||
[[th:สัตววิทยา]] |
|||
[[vi:Động vật học]] |
|||
[[tg:Зоология]] |
|||
[[tr:Zooloji]] |
|||
[[uk:Зоологія]] |
|||
[[ur:حیوانیات]] |
|||
[[vo:Nimav]] |
|||
[[zh-yue:動物學]] |
|||
[[zh:动物学]] |
|||
Revision as of 17:34, 18 October 2007
 | An editor has launched a copyright investigation involving this section. The text under investigation is currently hidden from public view, but is accessible in the page history. Please do not remove this notice or restore blanked content until the issue is resolved by an administrator, copyright clerk, or volunteer response agent.
The purported copyright violation copies text from http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110584/zoology ; as such, this page has been listed on the copyright problems page. Unless the copyright status of the text of this page or section is clarified and determined to be compatible with Wikipedia's content license, the problematic text and revisions or the entire page may be deleted one week after the time of its listing. What can I do to resolve the issue?
Steps to list an article at Wikipedia:Copyright problems:
|
