Nelly de Rooij

Petronella Johanna Nelly de Rooij (30 July 1883 – 10 June 1964) was a Dutch zoologist and herpetologist.

Petronella Johanna Nelly de Rooij
Born30 July 1883
Weesp
Died10 June 1964
Arnhem
NationalityDutch
OccupationZoologist, herpetologist

Biography

De Rooij was born in Weesp, and she studied Medicine in Amsterdam until discrimination against her gender in Dutch law obliged her to continue her studies in Zurich. She studied the cardiovascular system of salamanders of the genus Andrias, and she was awarded her Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Zurich in 1907.[1] With her qualification she was able to return to Amsterdam where she became a curator at the museum of zoology within the University of Amsterdam.[1]

In 1922 she was obliged to leave due to administrative reforms, but in this short academic career she was able to publish The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago.[1] The book was based on reptile specimens that were sent to the museum from the Dutch East Indies.[2]

De Rooij died in Arnhem in 1964.[1]

Legacy

De Rooij had two reptile species named after her: Petronella's kukri snake (Oligodon petronellae) by Jean Roux in 1917 and De Rooij's skink (Sphenomorphus derooyae), originally named Lygosoma derooyae by Jan Komelis de Jong in 1927.[1][3]

Taxa described by de Rooij

References
  1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("De Rooij", p.70).
  2. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, by Nelly de Rooij, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1915-1917, accessed October 2012.
  3. "Sphenomorphus derooyae ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. Draco taeniopterus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 05 October 2014.


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