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
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.
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 Africa1970. A Field Guide to the Snakes of South AfricaDirector of the Transvaal Museum 1946 - 1966President of the South African Museums Association in 1955As 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 chameleon1930. Afroedura langi1930. Afroedura marleyi - Pondo rock geckoBreviceps sylvestris - Forest rain frog1930. Platysaurus minor - Waterberg flat lizard1930. Scelotes bidigittatus -skink1930. Scelotes limpopoensis - Limpopo burrowing skink1930. Smaug vandami - Van Dam’s girdled lizard1930. Smaug depressus - Zoutpansberg girdled lizard1930. Zygaspis vandami (synonyms: Zygaspis violacea vandami, Amphisbaena vandami )1932. Lygodactylus chobiensis - Chobe dwarf gecko1932. Pelusios bechuanicus - Okavango mud turtle1932 Phrynobatrachus mababiensis - Mababe puddle frog1932. Rhinotyphlops boylei - Boyle's beaked blind snake1932 Xenocalamus bicolor maculatus - slender quill-snouted snake subspecies1933. Pachydactylus vansoni - Van Son's thick-toed gecko1933. Vhembelacerta rupicola - Soutpansberg rock lizard1937. Lygodactylus methueni - Methuen's dwarf gecko1938. Goggia rupicola - Namaqualand dwarf leaf-toed gecko1938. Namazonurus campbelli - Campbell’s girdled lizard1938. Pachydactylus kobosensis1938. Pachydactylus labialis - Calvinia thick-toed gecko, Western Cape thick-toed gecko1938. Pachydactylus robertsi - large-scaled gecko, shielded thick-toed gecko1938. Typhlacontias brevipes - FitzSimons' burrowing skink1938 Afroedura namaquensis1939 Goggia microlepidota – small-scaled dwarf leaf-toed gecko1939 Scelotes kasneri - Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink1941 Acontias gariepensis1941 Acontias occidentalis1941 Hyperolius swynnertoni - an African reed frog1941 Pachydactylus acuminatus1941 Platysaurus orientalis – Sekukune flat lizard1943 Pseudocordylus transvaalensis1943 Pachydactylus monticolus - Pachydactylus geitje (Sparrman, 1778)1946 Heleophryne orientalisEastern ghost frog1946 Xenocalamus bicolor australis- slender quill-snouted snake subspecies1947 Cacosternum striatum - striped caco1947 Pseudocordylus spinosus – prickly girdled lizard, near threatened1947 Anhydrophryne hewitti - Hewitt's moss frog, Natal chirping frog, or yellow bandit frog1957 Rhoptropus biporosus - Kaokoveld Namib day gecko1958 Lygodactylus bernardi – Bernard's dwarf gecko, Arnoult’s dwarf gecko1958 Smaug mossambicus Mozambique girdled lizard1959 Pachydactylus caraculicus – Angolan banded thick-toed gecko1959 Pachydactylus kochii = Colopus kochi (V. FitzSimons, 1959) – Koch's thick-toed gecko1962 Leptotyphlops occidentalis - Western thread snake