Abstract: Autophagy is a process in which eukaryotes degrade their subcellular organelles and damaged proteins to provide energy for the organism and avoid external environmental stimuli. It plays an important regulatory role in spermatogenesis, hormone synthesis（such as testosterone and progesterone）, follicle development and so on. Autophagy has been the focus of by domestic and international researchers. At present, researchers use morphological staining, molecular markers and other methods to study autophagy. This article reviewed the development, detection methods, functions and research progress of autophagy in the field of animal reproduction, aiming to provide references for further research on the regulation mechanism of autophagy in the field of animal reproduction.