UPSC Zoology Syllabus 2026 - Detailed Zoology Syllabus for Paper 1 & 2

Topics

Sub topics

Ecology

• Biosphere: concept of biosphere; biomes, Biogeochemical cycles, Human induced changes in atmosphere including greenhouse effect, biomes and ecotones, ecological succession, community ecology.

• Concept of ecosystem; structure and function of ecosystem, types of ecosystem, ecological succession, ecological adaptation.

• Population; characteristics, population dynamics, population stabilization.

• Biodiversity and diversity conservation of natural resources.

• Wildlife of India.

• Remote sensing for sustainable development.

• Environmental biodegradation; pollution and its impact on biosphere and its prevention.

Non-chordata and Chordata

(a) 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.

(b) Protozoa: Locomotion, nutrition, reproduction, sex; General features and life history of Paramaecium, Monocystis. Plasmodium and Leishmania.

(c) Porifera: Skeleton, canal system and reproduction.

(d) Cnidaria: Polymorphism, defensive structures and their mechanism; coral reefs and their formation; metagenesis; general features and life history of Obelia and Aurelia.

(e) Platyhelminthes: Parasitic adaptation; general features and life history of Fasciola and Taenia and their-Pathogenic symptoms. (f) Nemathelminthes: General features, life history, parasitic adaptation of Ascaris and Wuchereria.

(g) Annelida: Coelom and metamerism; modes of life in polychaetes; general features and life history of Nereis, earthworm and leech.

(h) Arthropoda: Larval forms and parasitism in Crustacea; vision and respiration in arthropods (Prawn, scorpion & cockroach); modification of mouth, parts in insects (cockroach, housefly, mosquito, honey bee and butterfly), metaphor phosis in insect and its hormonal regulation, social behaviour ofApis and termites.

(i) Molluscs: Feeding, respiration, locomotion, general features and life history of Lamellidens, Pila and Sepia. Torsion and detorsion in gastropods.

(j) Echinodermata: Feeding, respiration, locomotion, larval forms, general features and life history of Asterias.

(k) Protochordata: Origin of chordates; general features and life history of Branchiostoma and Herdmania.

(l) Pisces: Respiration, locomotion and migration.

(m) Amphibia: Origin of tetrapods, parental care, paedomorphosis.

(n) Reptilia; Origin of reptiles, skull types, status of Sphenodon and crocodiles.

(o) Aves: Origin of birds, flight adaptation, migration.

(p) Mammalia: Origin of mammals, dentition, general features of egg laying mammals, pouched mammals, aquatic mammals and primates, endocrine glands (pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, gonads) and their interrelationships.

(q) 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 & ear).

Ethology

(1) Behaviour: Sensory filtering, responsiveness, sign stimuli, learning, and memory, instinct, habituation, conditioning, imprinting.

(2) Role of hormones in drive; role of pheromones in alarm spreading; crypsis, predator detection, predator tactics, social hierarchies in primates, social organization in insects;

(3) Orientation, navigation, homing; biological rhythms: biological clock, tidal, seasonal and circadian rhythms.

(4) Methods of studying animal behaviour including sexual conflict, selfishness, kinship and altruism.

Biostatistics

• 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

(a) Spectrophotometer, phase contrast & fluorescence microscopy, radioactive tracer, electrophoresis, ultracentrifuge, PCR, ELISA, FISH and chromosome painting.

(b) Electron microscopy (TEM, SEM).

Economic Zoology

(a) Apiculture, sericulture, lac culture, pearl culture, carp culture, prawn culture, vermiculture.

(b) Major infectious and communicable diseases (malaria,tuberculosis, filaria, cholera and AIDS) their vectors, pathogens and prevention.

(c) Cattle and livestock diseases, their pathogen (helminths) and vectors (ticks, mites, Tabanus, Stomoxys).

(d) Pests of sugarcane (Pyrilla perpusilla), oil seed (Achaeajanata) and rice (Sitophilus oryzae).

(e) Transgenic animals.

(f) Medical biotechnology, human genetic disease and genetic counselling, gene therapy.

(g) Forensic biotechnology.

Topics

Sub topics

Evolution

• Theories of origin of life.

• Theories of evolution; Natural selection, role of mutation in evolution, evolutionary patterns, molecular drive, mimicry, variation, isolation and speciation.

• Evolution of horse, elephant and man using fossil data.

• Continental drift and distribution of animals.

• Hardy-Weinberg Law.

Systematics

Zoological nomenclature, international code, cladistics, molecular taxonomy and biodiversity.

Cell Biology

(a) Structure & 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 polytene and lampbrush, organization of chromatin, heterochromatin, Cell cycle regulation.

(b) Nucleic acid topology, DNA replication, transcription, DNA motif, RNA processing, translation, protein foldings and transport.

Genetics

(a) Modern concept of gene, split gene, genetic,genetic regulation, code.

(b) Sex chromosomes and their evolution, sex determination in Drosophila and man.

(c) Mendel’s laws of inheritance, recombination, linkage, multiple alleles, genetics of blood groups, pedigree analysis, hereditary diseases in man.

(d) Mutations and mutagenesis.

(e) Recombinant DNA technology, plasmid, cosmid, artificial chromosomes as vectors, transgenics, DNA cloning and whole animal cloning (principles and methods).

(f) Gene regulation and expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

(g) Signal molecules, cell death, defects in signaling pathway and consequences.

(h) RFLP, RAPD and AFLP and application of RFLP in DNA finger-printing, ribozyme technologies, human genome project, genomics and proteomics.

Biochemistry

(a) Structure and role of carbohydrates, fats, fatty acids, cholesterol, proteins and amino-acids, nucleic acids. Bioenergetics.

(b) Glycolysis and Krebs cycle, oxidation and reduction, oxidative phosphorylation; energy conservation and release, ATP, cycl cyclic AMP-its structure and role.

(c) Hormone classification (steroid and peptide hormones), biosynthesis and functions.

(d) Enzymes: types and mechanisms of action.

(e) Vitamins and coenzymes.

(f) Immunoglobulin and immunity.

Physiology (with special reference to mammals)

• Composition and constituents of blood; blood groups and Rh factor in man; factors and mechanism of coagulation; iron metabolism, acid-base balance, thermoregulation, anticoagulants.

• Haemoglobin: Composition, types and role in transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

• Digestion and absorption: Role of salivary glands, liver, pancreas and intestinal glands.

• Excretion: nephron and regulation of urine formation; osmo-regulation and excretory product.

• Muscles: Types, mechanism of contraction of skeletal muscles, effects of exercise on muscles.

• Neuron: nerve impulse—its conduction and synaptic transmission; neurotransmitters.

• Vision, hearing and olfaction in man.

• Physiology of reproduction, puberty and menopause in humans.

Developmental Biology

(a) Gametogenesis; spermatogenesis, composition of semen, in vitro and in vivo capacitation of mammalian sperm, Oogenesis, totipotency; fertilization, morphogenesis and morphogen; blastogenesis, establishment of body axes formation, fate map, gastrulation in frog and chick; genes in development in chick homeotic genes, development of eye and heart, placenta in mammals.

(b) Cell lineage, cell to cell interaction, Genetic and induced teratogenesis, role of thyroxine in control of metamorphosis in amphibia, paedogenesis and neoteny, cell death, aging.

(c) Developmental genes in man, in vitro fertilization; and embryo transfer; cloning.

(d) Stem cells: Sources, types and their use in human welfare.

(e) Biogenetic law.

Papers

Subjects

Marks

Duration

Paper 1

General Studies 1

200

2 hrs

Paper 2

General Studies 2

200

2 hrs

Papers

Subjects

Marks

Duration

Paper 1

General English

300

3 hrs

Paper 2

Language (regional language)

300

3 hrs

Paper 3

Essay

250

3 hrs

Paper 4

General Studies 1

250

3 hrs

Paper 5

General Studies 2

250

3 hrs

Paper 6

Optional subject 1

250

3 hrs

Paper 7

Optional subject 1

250

3 hrs

Paper 8

Optional subject 2

250

3 hrs

Paper 9

Optional subject 2

250

3 hrs