UPSC Zoology Syllabus

It is crucial for the aspirants preparing for UPSC exams to be familiar with the syllabus no matter if it is a compulsory subject or an optional one. Zoology is one of the forty-eight optional subjects which the candidate can choose for their main exam. This subject is quite popular amongst the candidates with Biology or related field. The UPSC Zoology syllabus 2023 comprises of a lot of topics from which questions in the exam will be asked. That’s why the aspirants should get complete knowledge about the IAS Zoology syllabus 2023 and prepare accordingly.

UPSC Civil Services Zoology Syllabus 2023

Like other UPSC optional exams, Zoology also has two papers i.e. Paper-I and Paper-II. Each of these papers will carry 250 marks. The syllabi for both the papers are different as given below.

IAS Zoology Syllabus for Paper – I

Non-Chordata and Chordata
1. Classification and relationship of various phyla up to subclasses: Acoelomate and Coelomate, Protostomes and Deuterostomes, Bilateria and Radiata, Status of Protista, Parazoa, Onychophora and Hemichordata, Symmetry.
2. Annelida: Coelom and metamerism, modes of life in polychaetes, general features and Life history of Nereis, earthworm and leach.
3. Arthropoda: Larval forms and parasitism in Crustacea, vision and respiration in arthropods (Prawn, cockroach and scorpion), modification of mouth, parts in insects (cockroach, mosquito, housefly, honey bee and butterfly), metapmor phosis in insect and its hormonal regulation, social behaviour of Apis and termites.
4. Molluscs: Feeding, respiration, locomotion, general features and life history of

Lamellidens, Pila and Sepia, Torsion and detorsion in gastropods.

Echinodermata: Feeding, respiration, locomotion, larval forms, general features and life history of Asterias.
Protochordata: Origin of chordates, general features and life history of Branchiostoma and Herdmania.
Pisces: Respiration, locomotion and migration.
Amphibia: Origin of tetrapods, parental care, paedomorphosis.
Reptilia, Origin of reptiles, skull types, status of Sphenodon and crocodiles.
Aves: Origin of birds, flight adaptation, migration.
Mammalia: Origin of mammals, dentition, general features of egg laying mammals, pouchedmammals, aquatic mammals and primates, endocrine glands (pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, gonads) and their interrelationships.
Comparative functional anatomy of various systems of vertebrates (integument and its derivatives, endoskeleton, locomotory organs, digestive system,. respiratory system, circulatory system including heart and aortic arches, urinogenital system, brain and sense organs (eye and ear).
Protozoa: Locomotion, nutrition, reproduction, sex, General features and life history of Paramaecium, Monocystis, Plasmodium, and Leishmania.
Cnidaria: Polymorphism, defensive structures and their mechanism, coral reefs and their formation, metagenesis, general features and life history of Obelia and Aurelia.
Porifera: Skeleton, canal system and reproduction.
Cnidaria: Polymorphism, defensive structures and their mechanism, coral reefs and their formation, metagenesis, general features and life history of Obelia and Aurelia.
Platyhelminthes: Parasitic adaptation, general features and life history of Fasciola and

Taenia and their Pathogenic symptoms

Nemathelminthes: General features, life history, parasitic adaptation of Ascaris,

and Wuchereria.

Ecology
1. Biodiversity and diversity conservation of natural resources.
2. Wildlife of India
3. Remote sensing for sustainable development.
4. Environmental biodegradation, pollution and its impact on biosphere and its prevention.
5. Biosphere: concept of biosphere, biomes, Biogeochemical cycles, Human induced changes in atmosphere including green house effect, ecological succession, biomes and ecotones, community ecology
6. Concept of ecosystem, structure and function of ecosystem, types of ecosystem, ecological succession, ecological adaptation
7. Population, characteristics, population dynamics, population stabilization
Ethology
1. Role of hormones in drive, role of pheromones in alarm spreading, crypsis, predator detection, predator tactics, social hierarchies in primates, social organization in insects.
2. Behavior: Sensory filtering, responsiveness, sign stimuli, learning, and memory, instinct, habituation, conditioning, imprinting.
3. Orientation, navigation, homing, biological rhythms: biological clock, tidal, seasonal and circadian rhythms.
4. Methods of studying animal behavior including sexual conflict, selfishness, kinship and altruism
Economic Zoology
1. Apiculture, sericulture, lac culture, carp culture, pearl culture, prawn culture, vermiculture.
2. Major infectious and communicable diseases (malaria, filaria, tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS) their vectors, pathogens and prevention.
3. Transgenic animals.
4. Medical biotechnology, human genetic disease and genetic counselling, gene therapy.
5. Forensic biotechnology
6. Cattle and livestock diseases, their pathogen (helminths) and vectors (ticks, mites, Tabanus, Stomoxys).
7. Pests of sugar cane (Pyrilla perpusiella), oil seed (Achaeajanata) and rice (Sitophilus oryzae).
Biostatistics:
1. Designing of experiments, null hypothesis, correlation, regression, distribution and measure of central tendency, chi square, student-test, F-test (one-way & two-way F-test).
Instrumentation methods:
1. Spectrophotometer, phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy, radioactive tracer, ultra centrifuge, gel, electrophoresis, PCR, ELISA, FISH and chromosome painting.
2. Electron microscopy (TEM, SEM).

Civil Services Exam Zoology syllabus for Paper – II

Cell Biology
1. Nucleic acid topology, DNA motif, DNA replication, transcription, RNA processing, translation, protein foldings and transport.
2. Structure and function of cell and its organelles (nucleus, plasma membrane, mitochondria, Golgi bodies, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes and lysosomes), cell division (mitosis and meiosis), mitotic spindle and mitotic apparatus, chromosome movement chromosome type ploytene and lambrush, organization of chromatin, heterochromatin, Cell cycle regulation.
Genetics
1. Gene regulation and expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
2. Signal molecules, cell death, defects in signaling pathway and consequences.
3. RFLP, RAPD and AFLF and application of RFLP in DNA finger-printing, ribozyme technologies, human genome project, genomics and protomics.
4. Modern concept of gene, split gene, genetic regulation, genetic, code.
5. Sex chromosomes and their evolution, sex determination in Drosophila and man.
6. Mendel’s laws of inheritance, recombination, linkage, multiple alleles, genetics of blood groups, pedigree analysis, hereditary diseases in man.
Evolution
1. Continental drift and distribution of animals.
2. Hardy-Weinberg Law
3. Evolution of horse, elephant and man using fossil data
4. Theories of evolution, Natural selection, role of mutation in evolution, evolutionary

Patterns, molecular drive, mimicry, variation, isolation and speciation.

Theories of origin of life.
Systematic
1. Zoological nomenclature, international code, cladistics, molecular taxonomy and biodiversity
Biochemistry
1. Hormone classification (steroid and peptide hormones), biosynthesis and functions
2. Enzymes: types and mechanisms of action.
3. Vitamins and co-enzymes.
4. Immunoglobulin and immunity.
5. Glycolysis and Krebs cycle, oxidation and reduction, oxidative phosphorylation, energy conservation and release, ATP, cycl cyclic AMP-its structure and role.
6. Structure and role of carbohydrates, fats, fatty acids, cholesterol, proteins and amino-acids, nucleic acids. Bioenergetics
Physiology (with special reference to mammals)
1. Muscles: Types, mechanism of contraction of skeletal muscles, effects of exercise on muscles.
2. Neuron: nerve impulse—its conduction and synaptic transmission, neurotransmitters.
3. Vision, hearing and olfaction in man.
4. Physiology of reproduction puberty and menopause in human.
5. Excretion: nephron and regulation of urine formation, osmo-regulation and excretory product.
6. Digestion and absorption: Role of salivary glands, liver, pancreas and intestinal glands
7. Hemoglobin: Composition, types and role in transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
8. Composition and constituents of blood, blood groups and Rh factor in man, factors and mechanism of coagulation, iron metabolism, acid-base balance, thermo regulation, anticoagulants.
Developmental Biology
1. Cell lineage, cell to cell interaction, Genetic and induced teratogenesis, role of thyroxine in control of metamorphosisin amphibia, paedogenesis and neoteny, cell death, aging.
2. Gametogenesis, spermatogenesis, composition of semen, in vitro and in vivo capacitation of mammalian sperm, Oogenesis, totipotency, fertilization, morphogenesis and morphogen, blastogeneis, establishment of body axes formation, fate map, gestulation in frog and chick, genes in development in chick homeotic genes, development of eye and heart, placenta in mammals.
3. Stem cells: Sources, types and their use in human welfare.
4. Developmental genes in man, in vitro fertilization, and embryo transfer, cloning.