Most zoology students begin with an overview class that addresses the principles of the field. This course serves as the introduction to their fieldwork down the line and frequently will help students decide on a subspecialty like environmental, vertebrate, invertebrate or morphological zoology.
Organic chemistry focuses on the basic building blocks of, more or less, everything. In this class, you learn about the structure of organic compounds and matter. This will help down the line in an understanding of how animal bodies function. For example, students with a background in organic chemistry may be better prepared for course work in animal nutrition after studying proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
Behavioral zoology tends to be a good course for future veterinarians. It is the study of how animals interact with each other and with humans and how their genetics and environment influence these interactions. If you’ve ever wondered why your shepherd wants to keep everybody else at the dog park together, this class likely will explain why.
Invertebrate zoology is the study of animals without a backbone, a class of animals making up more than 95 percent of all animals in the world. Because so many animals are invertebrates and many invertebrates are on the lower end of the food chain, these animals often are studied in order to determine better conservation plans. A decline in the population of an invertebrate species can decrease biological diversity by limiting the food supplies.
Zoologic morphologists study how and why animals are shaped the way they are. It has been responsible for many breakthroughs in other scientific disciplines like physics because researchers can use animal bodies as models. Scientists have improved the noses of trains based on the beak of a kingfisher, and Professor Frank Fish, a marine biologist at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, used humpback whale flippers to design better windmills.