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Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (/ ˌ æ n ɪ ˈ m eɪ l i ə / [4]).With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to zoology: . Zoology – study of animals.Zoology, or "animal biology", is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the identification, structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems.
Zoology (UK: / z u ˈ ɒ l ə dʒ i / zoo-OL-ə-jee, US: / z oʊ ˈ ɒ l ə dʒ i / zoh-OL-ə-jee) [1] is the scientific study of animals.Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems.
The classification of living things into animals and plants is an ancient one. Aristotle (384–322 BC) classified animal species in his History of Animals, while his pupil Theophrastus (c. 371 –c. 287 BC) wrote a parallel work, the Historia Plantarum, on plants. [7]
Mammalogy – study of mammals, a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. Mammalogy has also been known as "mastology," "theriology," and "therology." There are about 4,200 different species of animals which are considered mammals.
Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million in total. Animals range in size from 8.5 millionths of a metre to 33.6 metres (110 ft) long and have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs.
A multicellular organism such as an animal, plant, fungus, or alga is composed of many cells, often specialised. [22] A colonial organism such as a siphonophore is a being which functions as an individual but is composed of communicating individuals. [ 8 ]
A mammal (from Latin mamma 'breast') [1] is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (/ m ə ˈ m eɪ l i. ə /).Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones.