List of authors of South African animal taxa is a list of authors who have described or revised South African animals, and the standard forms used for identification of those authors in the zoological literature.

The complete entry for each author is given on a single line showing the standard form for their name, name link, dates and other names by which they have been known. Following this comes a list of major groups they have worked on. In cases where there is more than one person who may be referred to by a name, one or more dates of publication may help with disambiguation.

The major groups are

• Invertebrate
  • Porifera
  • Ctenophores
  • Cnidarians
  • Platyhelminthes
  • Nematodes
  • Nemerteans
  • Annelids
  • Arthropods
  • Bryozoans
  • Brachiopods
  • Molluscs
  • Echinoderms
  • Tunicates
• Vertebrates
  • Fish
  • Amphibians
  • Birds
  • Mammals
  • Reptiles

The dates given are those of birth and death where one or both are available. If neither is known, a date on which the author is known to have published a name (usually the earliest, and optionally also the latest, if more than one is known) is given preceded by 'fl.' (floruit).

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z