General Zoology ( Lecture ) year 2022-2023

Olitres, Sarah M. 2nd year-2nd semester

M1 - L1. Historical Background of the The said material consists of 37 volumes

Development of Zoology where Volumes VII to XI are about Zoology
in which Volume VIII deals with land
animals. Galen (129 – 199?) dissected
animals for his studies in human anatomy,
and his works became the standard for use
in medicine throughout the Middle Ages.

Zoology continued in the Aristotelian

tradition by the Middle Ages. Gradually,
naturalists became more critical as they
based their works from directly observing
animal life, so that mechanistic views of life
processes provided a hopeful method of
analyzing animal functions,

such as Andreas Vesalius (1514 – 1564),

introduced modern Western medicine with
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his human anatomy treatise, De humani
corporis fabrica. He was considered as a
Zoology is also known as animal science.
great anatomist and illustrator, and used
This is one of the fields of biological
animal parts to show structures such as the
sciences that deals with animals. It studies
kidney. Conrad Gessner (1516 – 1565)
about the morphological, anatomical and
was known for his great zoological work,
physiological characteristics of animals,
Historiae animalium, which was considered
from their microscopic to their macroscopic
as the starting-point of modern zoology.
structures. It also includes the evolutionary,
Hence, he is regarded as the Father of
taxonomical and ecological perspectives on
Modern Zoology. William Harvey (1578 –
animal life.
1657) in his book, “Anatomical dissertation
The history on the development of zoology concerning the motion of the heart and
as a science traces the study of the animal blood”, he demonstrated the circulation of
kingdom from ancient to modern times. In blood and functions of the heart, arteries
the Ancient Greeks, the systematic study and veins.
of animals became rational, which was
encouraged by the extensive descriptions of In the late 16th century (late 1500s and
living things. Aristotle (384 – 322 b.c.) early 1600s), the Dutch father-and-son
who created the science of biology, team, Hans and Zaccharias Janssen was
attempted a comprehensive classification of said to be the ones who invented the first
animals and established some type of simple and compound microscope with 3x
hierarchy of animals based on the logic of and 9x magnifications, but they were not
structure in his zoological works, History of given the proper recognition, because they
Animals, Parts of Animals, and Generation never published their work.
of Animals. Hence, he is considered as the
Father of Zoology. However, improvements to microscopy
paved way for many discoveries in the 17th
In Roman times, Pliny the Elder (a.d. 23 – century (late 1600s), Robert Hooke
79) wrote Historia naturalis (Natural History) (1535 – 1703), in his published book,
an encyclopedic compilation of myths and Micrographia (1665), presented the first
facts about celestial bodies, geography, published depiction of a microorganism,
animals and plants, metals, and stone.
the microfungus Mucor., and included his Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (1821 –
observation on cork of plant, describing it 1902) formulated the other component of
as composed of tiny boxes resembling the the Cell Theory, which states that “Cell
rooms of monastery, which we now know as came from pre-existing cell”. Along with the
cells. Thus, he became the Father of Cellular discovery of the nucleus in plant cells by
Biology. John Ray (1627 – 1705) sought Robert Brown (1831). Jean-Baptiste
to understand and classify all known Lamarck (1744 – 1829) is best known for
animals based on internal physical his Lamarckism, a theory of evolution that
characteristics like anatomy, and divided says that acquired characteristics are
birds into land and waterfowl in which he inheritable.
included whales and dolphins as a special
group among fishes. Although Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)
is associated with exotic animals in his
Marcello Malpighi (1628 – 1694) and studies on the HMS Beagle (Her/His Majesty
Jan Swammerdam (1637 – 1680), Ship), together with A. R. Wallace, he is
discovered the role of capillaries, added to also known for the Theory of Evolution by
the body of information about animals. Natural Selection, a significant mark in
Later, Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – zoology and considered as the second
1723) with the use of his own simple unifying principle of biology.
microscope that had 25x to 250x
magnification, reported his discovery of In the 20th century, zoology became a
bacteria and protozoa, which he called laboratory science. Technological advances
“little animals”. Microscopy then became the allowed scientists to have direct
backbone of identifying and understanding observations on biological processes.
the microscopic structures of both Molecular and cellular works in zoology
macroscopic and microscopic organisms. were established in most of the research
done. Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907 –
In the 18th century, zoology passed 1988), one of the founders of ethology,
through reforms provided by the system of used field experiments by altering the
nomenclature of Carolus Linnaeus (1707 – surroundings of the wasp’s burrows to
1778), the Binomial System of observe how they go back to them after
Nomenclature, introduced in his Systema hunting.
naturae (1735), that marked the beginning
of the modern system of classification and The ability to compare the DNA of different
still in practice all over the world. species improved the knowledge of
evolutionary relationships. Desmond
Zoology in the 19th century was Morris (1928 - ) applied ethological
dominated by Comparative morphology. techniques to humanity in his bestseller
Georges Cuvier (1769 – 1832) not only "The Naked Ape".
established many of the fundamental
taxonomic groups used by modern American sociobiologist and entomologist
zoologists, but together with J. B. Lamarck Edward O. Wilson (1929 - ) worked and
studied invertebrates and vertebrates, wrote the preservation of natural habitats
respectively, and established the and creatures. But one of the challenges
relationships of fossils to recent forms. now to modern zoology is the destruction
Matthias Schleiden (1804 – 1881), a of vast animal habitats and the extinction of
botanist, and Theodore Schwann (1810 – many animal species where much of their
1882), a zoologist, formulated the first natural behavior cannot be observed.
unifying principle of biology, the Cell
Theory, stating that, “The cell is the To understand more about how the science
structural unit of all living things”. of zoology developed and to know more
about those personalities who contributed
to its development,
M1 - L2. Principal Divisions of Zoology

WHILE-TASK M1 - L3. Current Significance of

Zoology
Zoology is one of the 3 Main Divisions of
Biology, in which the other 2 Divisions are
(1) Botany, which is the science about
plants, and (2) Microbiology, about
microorganisms.

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“How do you think the science of zoology

The same as the other 2 Divisions, contributes to the world?”
Zoology is composed of Sub-branches,
these are: Zoology is important in various fields
concerning animals, such as:
Anatomy - is concerned with the internal
features of animals, so this is with the Anatomy and Physiology
involvement of dissection. Knowing the structural characteristics of
animals is to become aware of their
Cytology – is everything about the cell. functional properties. It helps us
understand how animals live, grow, change,
Embryology – is the study of the and survive, for us to help preserve them,
development of the embryo. and prevent animal extinction.

Ethology – is the study of animal Environment or Ecosystem

behaviour. The science of zoology is concerned also
with the relationship of the organisms to
Genetics – is a field about heredity and their environment. This is to know if the
variations. population is fit to stay in the environment
Histology – is about tissues. and/or to determine if the environment can
sustain the needs of the population.
Morphology – is about the forms or Knowing such information is essential for
external features of animals. the concerned individuals or personalities
to know how they manage and sustain the
Organology – is about the different organs life of various organisms and their habitats
of the body. as well.

Paleontology – is the study of fossils. Agriculture

Zoology gives information on the roles of
Paleozoology – is specifically for animals in the field of agriculture. This
the study of animal fossils. helps in the identification of those animals
that are good in the development and
Pathology – is concerned with diseases. growth of crops, and those that may cause
Physiology – is the study of the functions damage as well. Equipped with such
of the different structures of the body; knowledge, the farmers will be able to
Taxonomy – is involved with the expose their crops to useful organisms, and
classifications of organisms. to protect their crops to destructive ones.
Medical Field
Many diseases known are passed on to
humans via animals. Armed with this
knowledge and information, we are able to
better understand the characteristics of
animals on how they cause those diseases,
and this gives us an idea of how to counter
them and protect ourselves.

Evolution
Zoology gives so much information about
the past that are essential in knowing our
ancestors and in understanding the present
forms.

Genetics
Zoology includes the study of the genes of
animals, for us to have insights into their
biology. It helps us understand the
physiology and behavior of animals for their
protection.

How about you? . . . Do you know how

important zoology is to your field?