Zoology facts for kids
Zoology is the science of studying animal life. It is part of biology. The word is pronounced Zō-ölogy, not Zoo-ology. Animal life is classified into groups called phyla, of which there are at least 30.
Zoologists are scientists who study animals. They may work in laboratories, or do field research. The methods are many and various. At the heart, they cover the structure, function, ecology and evolution of animals. The structure is investigated by dissection, and microscopic examination. The function is investigated by observation and experiment. Palaeontology supplies information about extinct animals. Zoologists may be employed by universities, museums, or by zoos.
Short-list of zoologists
Some zoologists:
- Louis Agassiz (malacology, ichthyology)
- Aristotle
- Henry Walter Bates
- Buffon
- Jennifer Clack
- Charles Darwin
- Charles Henry Turner
- Theodosius Dobzhansky
- Dian Fossey (primatology)
- Conrad Gessner
- Geoffroy
- Jane Goodall (primatology)
- John Gould, ornithology
- Stephen Jay Gould
- Ernst Haeckel
- Julian Huxley
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Libbie Hyman (invertebrate zoology)
- William Kirby (father of entomology)
- Lamarck
- Louis Leakey (palaeoanthropology)
- Linnaeus (father of systematics)
- Konrad Lorenz (ethology)
- John Maynard Smith
- Fritz Müller
- Richard Owen (Natural History Museum)
- John Ray
- E.O. Wilson, b. 1929, (entomology, founder of sociobiology)
- Jakob van Uexküll (animal behavior, invertebrate zoology)
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- James Watson (DNA)
- August Weismann
- Gilbert White
Animal phyla
Images for kids
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Conrad Gesner (1516–1565). His Historiae animalium is considered the beginning of modern zoology.
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Animal anatomical engraving from Handbuch der Anatomie der Tiere für Künstler.
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Linnaeus's table of the animal kingdom from the first edition of Systema Naturae (1735).
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Kelp gull chicks peck at red spot on mother's beak to stimulate the regurgitating reflex.
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See also
In Spanish: Zoología para niños
