Invertebrate zoology

Invertebrate zoology is the biological discipline that consists of the study of invertebrate animals, i.e. animals without a backbone (a structure which is found only in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.)

Invertebrates are a vast and very diverse group of animals that includes sponges, echinoderms, tunicates, numerous different phyla of worms, molluscs, arthropods and many additional phyla. Single-celled organisms or protists are usually not included within the same group as invertebrates.

Subdivisions

Invertebrates are 97% of all named animal species,^[1] and because of that fact, this subdivision of zoology has many further subdivisions, including but not limited to:

• Arthropodology - the study of arthropods, which includes

• Arachnology - the study of spiders and other arachnids
• Entomology - the study of insects
• Carcinology - the study of crustaceans
• Myriapodology - the study of centipedes, millipedes, and other myriapods

• Cnidariology - the study of Cnidaria
• Helminthology - the study of parasitic worms.
• Malacology - the study of mollusks, which includes

• Conchology - the study of Mollusk shells.
• Limacology - the study of slugs.
• Teuthology - the study of cephalopods.

• Invertebrate paleontology - the study of fossil invertebrates

These divisions are sometimes further divided into more specific specialties. For example, within arachnology, acarology is the study of mites and ticks; within entomology, lepidoptery is the study of butterflies and moths, Myrmecology is the study of ants and so on.

See also

• Marine invertebrates

References

1. ↑ May, Robert M. (16 September 1988). "How Many Species Are There on Earth?". Science. 241 (4872): 1441–1449. doi:10.1126/science.241.4872.1441. JSTOR 1702670. PMID 17790039. 

External links

• A Study Guide to Invertebrate Zoology ~ at Wikibooks
• Online Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology