《動物學前沿》是一本開放獲取、同行評議的在線期刊，發表高質量的研究論文和對動物生活方方面面的評論。作為一門生物學學科，動物學有著悠久的歷史。今天，由于生命科學的迅速發展，動物學有時似乎被或多或少相互獨立的子學科所取代，而這些子學科之間的交流往往很少。然而，最近分子方法論進入“經典”生物學領域的進展，以及能夠解釋不同組織層次現象的理論的發展，已導致動物學學科的重新整合，促進了對動物學問題的更廣泛研究。動物學已重新成為一門綜合性學科，涵蓋了動物生活中最多樣化的方面，從基因層面到生態系統層面。《動物學前沿》是第一本關注動物學整體的開放獲取期刊。它的目的是代表和重新統一從不同角度觀察動物生活的各種學科，并為全面理解各級分析的動物現象提供基礎。動物學前沿提供了一個獨特的機會，發表高質量的研究和評論的動物學問題，將在國際上的任何讀者免費訪問。該雜志是由德國最大的國家動物學會之一的德國動物學會發起并支持的，該學會在促進高水平的動物研究方面有著100多年的悠久傳統。

Frontiers in Zoology is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal publishing high quality research articles and reviews on all aspects of animal life.As a biological discipline, zoology has one of the longest histories. Today it occasionally appears as though, due to the rapid expansion of life sciences, zoology has been replaced by more or less independent sub-disciplines amongst which exchange is often sparse. However, the recent advance of molecular methodology into "classical" fields of biology, and the development of theories that can explain phenomena on different levels of organisation, has led to a re-integration of zoological disciplines promoting a broader than usual approach to zoological questions. Zoology has re-emerged as an integrative discipline encompassing the most diverse aspects of animal life, from the level of the gene to the level of the ecosystem.Frontiers in Zoology is the first open access journal focusing on zoology as a whole. It aims to represent and re-unite the various disciplines that look at animal life from different perspectives and at providing the basis for a comprehensive understanding of zoological phenomena on all levels of analysis. Frontiers in Zoology provides a unique opportunity to publish high quality research and reviews on zoological issues that will be internationally accessible to any reader at no cost.The journal was initiated and is supported by the Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft, one of the largest national zoological societies with more than a century-long tradition in promoting high-level zoological research.