Petronella Johanna Nelly de Rooij (30 July 1883 – 10 June 1964) was a Dutch zoologist and herpetologist.
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] 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.
[1] 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.