Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons, born in Pietermaritzburg, was a notable herpetologist in South Africa. Also, he contributed to the collection of spermatophyte samples for the National Herbarium which has become part of the South African National Biodiversity Institute at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden. In 1937, together with Anna Amelia Obermeyer, he collected some of the earliest plant specimens from the Eastern Highlands of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Later, as director of the Transvaal Museum, he together with Charles Koch helped to establish the Namib Desert Research Institute in Gobabeb
Family Vivian FitzSimons came from a family of naturalists. His father, Frederick William FitzSimons, and his mother Patricia Henrietta (née Russell), both immigrated to South Africa from Ireland. His brother was Desmond Charles Fitzsimons, who in 1939 founded the Fitzsimons Snake Park (Durban) and was a leading distributor of snake antivenoms in South Africa. Vivian FitzSimons attended the prestigious Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.
List of written works Some of his writings include:
1932. Preliminary descriptions of new forms of South African Reptilia and Amphibia, from the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, 1930. 1933. Description of five new lizards from the Transvaal and Southern Rhodesia. 1938. Transvaal Museum Expedition to South-West Africa and Little Namaqualand, May to August 1937. 1939. Descriptions of some new species and subspecies of lizards from South Africa. 1941. Descriptions of some new lizards from South Africa and a frog from southern Rhodesia. 1943. The lizards of South Africa. (Reprinted 1970). 1948. Descriptions of two new frogs from Natal and a gecko from Astove Island. 1958. with Charles Kimberlin Brain (1931–). A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. 1959. Some new reptiles from southern Africa and southern Angola. 1962. Snakes of Southern Africa. 1970. A Field Guide to the Snakes of South Africa.
Notable posts Director of the Transvaal Museum 1946 - 1966 President of the South African Museums Association in 1955
Species described As a leading herpetologist at the Transvaal Museum, Vivian was involved in the original description of as many as 41 South African reptiles, including the following species.
1930. Bradypodion transvaalense – Transvaal dwarf chameleon 1930. Afroedura langi 1930. Afroedura marleyi – Pondo rock gecko 1930. Breviceps sylvestris – forest rain frog 1930. Platysaurus minor – Waterberg flat lizard 1930. Scelotes bidigittatus – a skink 1930. Scelotes limpopoensis – Limpopo burrowing skink 1930. Smaug vandami – Van Dam’s girdled lizard 1930. Smaug depressus – Zoutpansberg girdled lizard 1930. Zygaspis vandami (synonyms: Zygaspis violacea vandami, Amphisbaena vandami ) 1932. Lygodactylus chobiensis – Chobe dwarf gecko 1932. Pelusios bechuanicus – Okavango mud turtle 1932. Phrynobatrachus mababiensis – Mababe puddle frog 1932. Rhinotyphlops boylei – Boyle's beaked blind snake 1932. Xenocalamus bicolor maculatus – slender quill-snouted snake subspecies 1933. Pachydactylus vansoni – Van Son's thick-toed gecko 1933. Vhembelacerta rupicola – Soutpansberg rock lizard 1937. Lygodactylus methueni – Methuen's dwarf gecko 1938. Goggia rupicola – Namaqualand dwarf leaf-toed gecko 1938. Namazonurus campbelli – Campbell's girdled lizard 1938. Pachydactylus kobosensis 1938. Pachydactylus labialis – Calvinia thick-toed gecko, Western Cape thick-toed gecko 1938. Pachydactylus robertsi – large-scaled gecko, shielded thick-toed gecko 1938. Typhlacontias brevipes – FitzSimons' burrowing skink 1938. Afroedura namaquensis 1939. Goggia microlepidota – small-scaled dwarf leaf-toed gecko 1939. Scelotes kasneri – Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink 1941. Acontias gariepensis 1941. Acontias occidentalis 1941. Hyperolius swynnertoni – an African reed frog 1941. Pachydactylus acuminatus 1941. Platysaurus orientalis – Sekukune flat lizard 1943. Pseudocordylus transvaalensis 1943. Pachydactylus monticolus = Pachydactylus geitje (Sparrman, 1778) 1946. Heleophryne orientalis – eastern ghost frog 1946. Xenocalamus bicolor australis– slender quill-snouted snake subspecies 1947. Cacosternum striatum – striped caco 1947. Pseudocordylus spinosus – prickly girdled lizard, near threatened 1947. Anhydrophryne hewitti – Hewitt's moss frog, Natal chirping frog, or yellow bandit frog 1957. Rhoptropus biporosus – Kaokoveld Namib day gecko 1958. Lygodactylus bernardi – Bernard's dwarf gecko, Arnoult's dwarf gecko 1958. Smaug mossambicus – Mozambique girdled lizard 1959. Pachydactylus caraculicus – Angolan banded thick-toed gecko 1959. Pachydactylus kochii = Colopus kochi (V. FitzSimons, 1959) – Koch's thick-toed gecko 1962. Leptotyphlops occidentalis – western thread snake
Eponyms Vivian FitzSimons is commemorated in the scientific names of four reptiles.
Chondrodactylus fitzsimonsi Elapsoidea sundevallii fitzsimonsi Platysaurus orientalis fitzsimonsi Scelotes fitzsimonsi
References
External Articles Vhembelacerta rupicola. French language Wikipedia. Namazonurus campbelli. French language Wikipedia. "Vivian Fitzsimons". South African History Online.
