The article discusses the main stages in the history of the science school in ecological physiology of animals at the Institute of Biology of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the contributions of individual scientists to its development. The specifics of its development and the main scientific achievements of members of the school over a half-century period are recounted. Current research areas and prospects for the future are considered. The emergence of the science school in ecological physiology of animals is associated with the name of Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, Honored Scientist, Professor V. A. Berestov, who in 1972 headed the Laboratory for Physiology of Fur Animals. Initially, it dealt with applied tasks related to problems in fur farming. The second stage in the history of the science school is associated with the work of N. N. Tyutyunnik. In 1987, as research was deepened and expanded to cover the adaptations of animals to various environmental factors, the Laboratory for Physiology of Fur Animals was transformed into the Laboratory for Animal Ecophysiology. Since 2008 the Laboratory was headed by V. A. Ilyukha, Dr. Sci. in Biology, and since 2017 by S. N. Kalinina, Cand. Sci. in Biology. Currently, the laboratory staff study the physiology of mammals living in the wild as well as conduct experiments to study the effects of the light factor in the laboratory.