Animals & Nature · Unit 18

Frontiers in Animal Science

Genomics, tracking, cognition, welfare and the future of wildlife

Animal science has changed more in twenty years than in the previous hundred, largely because of two technologies: cheap genome sequencing and trackers small enough for a bird.

The unit covers genomics and environmental DNA, biologging and tracking, animal cognition research, welfare science, and the ethical questions conservation technology raises.

This unit breaks down into 19 short steps and 116 questions, starting at difficulty 4 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 19
Questions: 116
Difficulty: 4-5

What this unit covers

Tracking and Biologging
Conservation Technology and Ethics
Animal Cognition Research
Genomes and Environmental DNA
Animal Welfare Science

Where this fits

The final unit in the track. Assumes Animal Evolution and Zoology and Classification.

Where people slip

Environmental DNA detects that a species was present, not how many or when precisely. It is powerful for finding rare species and weak for counting them.

How the unit is structured

Frontiers in Animal Science runs as 19 short steps that unlock in order. 14 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 4 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 19 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 116 in the unit altogether.

Animal Cognition Research

Choose all that applyLevel 4
1. Which abilities are tested in cognition research? Pick all that apply.
- Memorycorrect
- Problem solvingcorrect
- Simple numerical judgementcorrect
- Handwriting
Memory, problem solving, numerical ability and social reasoning are all tested.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
2. What is animal cognition?
- How animals perceive, learn and solve problems
- How animals digest food
- How animals migrate only
- How animals reproduce
The study of how animals perceive, learn, remember and solve problems.
True or falseLevel 4
3. Some parrots and corvids solve problems as well as young children on certain tasks.
Answer: True
True, on specific physical reasoning tasks.
Type the answerLevel 4
4. What is learning by watching another individual called?
Answer: social learning
Social learning spreads behaviour without direct experience.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
5. Why is comparing intelligence across species difficult?
- Species differ in senses, motivation and body form
- All animals are equally intelligent
- Intelligence is easy to measure
- Only humans can be tested
Species differ in senses, motivation and body form, so a single test rarely suits them all.
Choose all that applyLevel 5
6. Which evidence supports animal culture? Pick all that apply.
- Behaviour variants that differ between populationscorrect
- Experiments showing behaviour spreading sociallycorrect
- Traditions persisting across generationscorrect
- Identical behaviour everywhere
Regional behaviour variants, social transmission experiments and persistence over generations all support it.

Animal Welfare Science

Choose all that applyLevel 4
7. Which indicate poor welfare? Pick all that apply.
- Repetitive stereotypic behaviourcorrect
- Chronically raised stress hormonescorrect
- Poor body conditioncorrect
- Playful exploration
Repetitive behaviour, stress hormones, poor body condition and avoidance all indicate problems.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
8. Why has evidence about sentience influenced law in some countries?
- Recognising suffering creates legal obligationscorrect
- It makes animals property
- It removes all protections
- It has no influence
Recognising that animals can suffer creates obligations in how they are treated.
True or falseLevel 4
9. Evidence for pain in some invertebrates has led to expanded welfare protection.
Answer: True
True. Octopuses and decapod crustaceans have been included in some laws.
Type the answerLevel 4
10. Which invertebrate is often cited as a striking example of intelligence?
Answer: octopus
The octopus solves problems, uses tools and learns quickly.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
11. What is sentience?
- The capacity to have feelings and experiencescorrect
- The ability to move
- The ability to reproduce
- The ability to grow
The capacity to have experiences, including feeling pain and pleasure.
Choose all that applyLevel 5
12. Which are recognised enrichment approaches? Pick all that apply.
- Puzzle feeders that extend foragingcorrect
- Complex structures to climb and hide incorrect
- Appropriate social companionscorrect
- A completely bare enclosure
Foraging puzzles, structural complexity, social grouping and choice of areas all count.

Conservation Technology and Ethics

Build the sentenceLevel 4
13. Build a sentence about animal science.
Answer: New technology reveals how animals live and move
New technology reveals how animals live and move.
Choose all that applyLevel 4
14. Which technologies are transforming animal research? Pick all that apply.
- Genome sequencingcorrect
- Animal-borne sensorscorrect
- Machine learning for image and soundcorrect
- Handwritten card catalogues only
Genomics, biologging, remote sensing and machine learning are all transformative.
Match the pairsLevel 4
15. Match each tool to what it studies.
Answer: Genome sequencing = Genetic relationships; Satellite tag = Movement and migration; Camera trap = Presence of shy species; Acoustic recorder = Calls and songs
Different tools answer different questions.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
16. How are drones used in wildlife research?
- To survey populations and map habitatcorrect
- To feed animals
- To catch animals
- They are not used
They survey populations, map habitat and reach places people cannot easily go.
Put in orderLevel 4
17. Put these steps of a genomic conservation study in order.
Answer: Collect tissue or blood samples -> Sequence the DNA -> Analyse genetic diversity -> Interpret inbreeding and structure -> Apply results to management
Sample, sequence, analyse, interpret, apply.
Fact or fibLevel 5
18. New technology reduces the need for careful field observation.
Answer: False
False. Technology supplements observation but cannot replace understanding the animals themselves.

Genomes and Environmental DNA

Choose all that applyLevel 4
19. Which does animal genomics enable? Pick all that apply.
- Identifying species from tissue samplescorrect
- Mapping evolutionary relationshipscorrect
- Studying disease resistance genescorrect
- Changing an adult animal's species
Species identification, relationship mapping, disease study and conservation planning all benefit.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
20. What is a genome?
- The complete set of genetic material in an organismcorrect
- A single gene
- A type of cell
- A protein
The complete set of genetic instructions in an organism.
True or falseLevel 4
21. Genome size does not reliably indicate how complex an organism is.
Answer: True
True. Some amphibians have genomes far larger than ours.
Type the answerLevel 4
22. What is the term for reading the order of bases in DNA?
Answer: sequencing
Sequencing determines the exact base order.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
23. Why are large projects sequencing thousands of animal genomes?
- To map relationships, adaptations and conservation needs
- To make animals larger
- To replace fieldwork entirely
- There is no reason
Genomes reveal relationships, adaptations and conservation status across the tree of life.
Choose all that applyLevel 5
24. Which questions can genomics address? Pick all that apply.
- Past population size changescorrect
- Genes under selectioncorrect
- Relatedness between individualscorrect
- An animal's daily mood
Population history, adaptation, disease susceptibility and relatedness can all be studied.

Tracking and Biologging

Choose all that applyLevel 4
25. Which sensors are carried on modern animal tags? Pick all that apply.
- GPS receiverscorrect
- Accelerometerscorrect
- Depth and temperature sensorscorrect
- Printers
GPS, accelerometers, depth and temperature sensors are all used.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
26. What can an accelerometer on a tag reveal?
- Which behaviour the animal is performingcorrect
- The animal's exact thoughts
- The weather next week
- Nothing useful
Patterns of movement can identify behaviours such as feeding, resting or running.
True or falseLevel 4
27. Tags must be small enough not to impair the animal carrying them.
Answer: True
True. Guidelines limit tag mass as a fraction of body mass.
Type the answerLevel 4
28. What is the general term for tracking animals with attached electronic devices?
Answer: telemetry
Telemetry transmits or stores data from a moving animal.
Multiple choiceLevel 4
29. What is biologging?
- Using attached devices to record animal datacorrect
- Writing a diary about animals
- Logging trees in forests
- Counting animals by eye
Attaching small recording devices to animals to log their movement, physiology and environment.
Choose all that applyLevel 5
30. Which uses does tracking data have? Pick all that apply.
- Identifying migration corridorscorrect
- Assessing collision risk with turbinescorrect
- Modelling disease spreadcorrect
- Setting hunting quotas without any other data
Corridor identification, collision risk assessment, disease spread and behaviour classification all use it.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 9 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Frontiers in Animal Science

116 questions across 19 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

More units in Animals & Nature

See all 18 units in Animals & Nature →