Introduction to Zoology By Hegner, Robert William

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Introduction to Zoology By  Hegner, Robert William

THE science of Biology includes the sum of human knowledge with regard to organisms. That branch of biology which deals with animals is known as Zoology; that which relates to plants, as Botany. Zoology may be defined as the body of facts and doctrines derived from the scientific study of animals. Scientific
study demands accurate and painstaking observation carried on with some definite end in view. The scientific study of zoology attempts to gain an understanding of the structure and activities of animals. It not only deals with the animals per se, but also with their relations to both the organic an inorganic worlds. The detailed investigation of animals has led to the establishment of a number of subsidiary zoological sciences, several of which are briefly outlined in the next few paragraphs. Systematic Zoology is concerned with the description of animal species and their arrangement according to a logical plan of classification. The exact meaning of the term species is a live question at the present time, and systematic zoologists do not agree as to what characteristics should be used in separating one species from another. One investigator in this field gives the following definition: “A species, as conceived by most systematists at the present time, may be defined as a group of interbreeding individuals which, while they may differ markedly among themselves, yet resemble each other more closely than they do those of any other group; the characters that distinguish.