Hobbies And Interests
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the branch of zoology that deals with the classification of animals. In general, this branch looks at three major areas: vertebrate zoology, invertebrate zoology and paleontology. Vertebrate zoology focuses on the study of animals with backbones such as reptiles, fish, birds and mammals, while invertebrate zoology focuses on those without backbones such as worms, mollusks, jellyfish and insects. Paleontology studies ancient life forms through a study of fossils.
Genetics and Heredity
Genetics is the branch of zoology that focuses on the mechanism of heredity. This would include the study of dominant and recessive traits and their transmission from generation to generation. Geneticists often study ways to improve livestock through selective breeding or steps to eliminate birth defects. Genetics can often include studies of microbiology, embryology and evolution.
Specific Studies
Zoologists also study individual animal groups. For example, herpetologists study reptiles while ornithologists study avian species. Ichthyology is the study of fish while entomology is the study of insects. Aquatic and marine zoology focus on animal species that live in water. Each of these areas would focus on the species in their group as well as their environment, distribution, evolution and behavior.
Other Areas
In recent years zoologists have also looked at the distribution and behavior of animals in the fields of ecology and ethology respectively. Physiology and anatomy focus on the structure of animals while cellular and molecular zoology focus on even smaller animal structures. Many of these areas are also part of studies of individual species.