Zoology: Understanding the Animal World

Join a zoologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for 24 lectures that reveal the scientific marvels of animal life on our planet.

Overview

Course No. 1266

As much as we love a trip to the zoo, the truth is that you can’t learn everything there is to know about animals with an occasional brief visit. But by exploring zoology and the tireless work of zoologists, you’ll find your next trip more rewarding, enriching, and satisfying.

In these 24 lectures, The Great Courses teams up with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute to take you behind the scenes of the animal world. Dr. Moore has crafted a wonderful introduction to zoology that brings you up close and personal with a breathtaking variety of animal species through the eyes of a trained zoologist.

Throughout these lectures, you’ll explore the fundamentals of zoology (including the relationship between genetics and environment), dive into the different orders of life on our planet (from the ocean depths to the highest tree tops), and investigate special subjects intriguing today’s zoologists (including animal behavior and conservation).

You’ll also meet some of the most incredible animals on Earth: butterflies, bears, crocodiles, tigers, giant pandas, elephants, gorillas, and more. Thanks to exclusive footage from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, you’ll be able to see these animals in action, up close and without the crowds.

It’s a wide, wild world out there. And with these engaging lectures, you’ll be better equipped to get out there and discover its animal wonders, whether they’re in your local zoo or aquarium, a national park, or right in your own backyard.

Course Lectures

1. What Do Zoologists Do?
   Get a solid foundation for all the terms and concepts you’ll encounter throughout this course. Discover what zoologists do (it’s much more than running zoos), take a close look at the phylogenic tree (the tree of life), and examine the definition of terms like species, natural selection, and conservation.
   Duration: 33 min
2. Animal Reproduction: Genes and Environment
   Explore the diversity of reproductive biology and sex in the animal kingdom. Cover topics including asexual and sexual reproduction, sexual behaviors in different animal groups, and some of the strangest sexual behavior in the animal kingdom: reproduction outside an animal’s body.
   Duration: 31 min
3. Mammal Reproduction: Pandas and Cheetahs
   Learn how reproductive scientists are working to help save giant pandas and cheetahs from extinction.
   Duration: 29 min
4. How Animals Raise Their Young
   Explore different parenting styles in everything from corals to salmon to humans, and encounter one of the most unique examples of parental care in mammals: the golden lion tamarin.
   Duration: 29 min
5. Helpful Corals, Clams, and Crustaceans
   Learn about marine invertebrates, including mollusks, blue crabs, and corals, which surpass tropical rainforests in their levels of biodiversity.
   Duration: 34 min
6. Bees, Butterflies, and Saving Biodiversity
   Explore adaptations of important insects and focus on key conservation issues like colony collapse and pollinator conservation.
   Duration: 34 min
7. Deadly Invertebrates: Vectors and Parasites
   Examine the real effects of invertebrates on humans and how zoologists classify the parasites that infect humans.
   Duration: 32 min
8. Bony Fish, Skates, Sharks, and Rays
   Discover the specific conservation needs of rays, sharks, and bony fishes, and learn how fishes adapt to their environments.
   Duration: 30 min
9. Amphibians, Metamorphosis, and Ecology
   Join Dr. Moore for an eye-opening lecture on amphibian biology and diversity and the ways we can help salamanders, frogs, and other species thrive.
   Duration: 31 min
10. Reptiles: Adaptations for Living on Land
    Examine fascinating reptilian adaptations and learn ways you can help reptiles like snakes, turtles, lizards, and crocodilians survive.
    Duration: 30 min
11. Beaks, Claws, and Eating like a Bird
    Dive into the science of ornithology and explore the amazing adaptations of birds.
    Duration: 32 min
12. Form and Function: Bird Nests and Eggs
    Explore the intricacies of bird breeding, nesting, and chick-raising adaptations.
    Duration: 29 min
13. Taking to the Sky: Bird Migration
    Discover the physics of bird flight and why some birds have lost the ability to fly.
    Duration: 24 min
14. What Makes a Mammal? Hair, Milk, and Teeth
    Investigate the two traits that make mammals unique from other animals: hair and milk.
    Duration: 30 min
15. Herbivore Mammals: Ruminants and Runners
    Focus on ruminants and runners, and learn about their unique adaptations for survival.
    Duration: 33 min
16. Carnivore Mammals: Feline, Canine, and Ursine
    Learn about the evolution and adaptations of carnivorous mammals.
    Duration: 31 min
17. Primate Mammals: Diverse Forest Dwellers
    Gain a greater appreciation for the characteristics of primates and their diversity.
    Duration: 32 min
18. Size, Structure, and Metabolism
    Explore how an animal’s size helps it thrive and understand bioenergetics.
    Duration: 32 min
19. Protection, Support, and Homeostasis
    Cover the diversity of adaptations that animals have developed for movement, protection, and homeostasis.
    Duration: 28 min
20. Animal Energetics and the Giant Panda Problem
    Examine animal energetics, metabolism, and the unique challenges faced by the giant panda.
    Duration: 31 min
21. Ethology: Studying Animal Behavior
    Learn how zoologists study animal behavior and its importance in conservation.
    Duration: 31 min
22. Think! How Intelligent Are Animals?
    Explore animal intelligence through the lens of ethology, psychology, and neuroscience.
    Duration: 33 min
23. Combating Disease in the Animal Kingdom
    Examine zoonotic diseases and their impact on both humans and animals.
    Duration: 32 min
24. Animal Futures: Frontiers in Zoology
    Discuss the future of animal species and the biggest threats to wildlife.
    Duration: 35 min