Ernst Josef Fittkau (22 July 1927 – 12 May 2012) was a German entomologist and herpetologist.
Career In entomology he specialized in the Diptera, especially the family Chironomidae. In herpetology he specialized in crocodiles. He collected natural history specimens on every continent except Antarctica, beginning with South America in 1960. He was Director of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich (Zoologische Staatssammlung München) from 1976 to 1992.
Legacy Fittkau is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of South American lizard, Liolaemus fittkaui.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Fittkau", p. 90).
Publications Fittkau EJ (1995). Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix. Rundgespräche der Kommission für Ökologie. Tropenforschung. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften 10: 29–38. (in German).
Sources Hausmann, Axel; Spies, Martin; Diller, Juliane (2012). "In memoriam Prof. Dr. Ernst Josef Fittkau (22. Juli 1927 - 12. Mai 2012)". Spixiana 35 (2): 161-176. (pdf). (in German).
References Spies, Martin (2002). "Professor Ernst Josef Fittkau – 75 years, 50 years for chironomid research". Chironomus Newsletter on Chironomidae Research 15: 2–13. .