The whole of animal life (3)
I believe the answer is:
all
'the whole' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'of animal life' is the wordplay.
'of' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'ALL' is hidden in the letters of 'animal life'.
(Other definitions for all that I've seen before include "Passage in a formal garden" , "Everybody; everything" , "without exception" , "The whole amount" , "Fully clad ..." .)