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A new species of the genus Megophrys from Zhejiang Province, China is described. Molecular phylogenetic analyses supported the new taxon as an independent clade nested into the Megophrys clade and sister to M. lishuiensis. The new species could be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristics: (1) small size (SVL 31.0-36.3 mm in male and 41.6 mm in female); (2) vomerine ridge present and vomerine teeth absent; (3) tongue not notched behind; (4) a small horn-like tubercle at the edge of each upper eyelid; (5) tympanum distinctly visible, rounded; (6) two metacarpal tubercles in hand; (7) relative finger lengths: II < I < IV < III; (8) toes with rudimentary webbing at bases; (9) heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; (10) tibiotarsal articulation reaching tympanum to eye when leg stretched forward; (11) an internal single subgular vocal sac in male; (12) in breeding male, the nuptial pads with black nuptial spines on the dorsal bases of the first and second fingers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cenozoic continental basalts from Zhejiang Province, southeast China are tholeiitic to weakly alkalic in composition, with moderate MgO contents (6–11 wt.%) and an average Mg # of 62. They display typical OIB-like trace element features, including enrichment in most incompatible elements, both LILE and LREE, and negative K, Pb, Zr, Hf anomalies. In particular, they are characterized by high Fe/Mn (73 ± 5), La/Yb (19 ± 6) and Nb/Ta (18.8 ± 0.4) ratios, which can be attributed to the presence of residual clinopyroxene, garnet and rutile in the mantle source. Based on these minerals, the following hybrid source rocks are hypothesized: garnet pyroxenite/eclogite and peridotite. Clinopyroxene–liquid thermobarometry indicates clinopyroxene crystallization temperatures of > 1257 °C. This is higher than the assumed temperature at the base of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) (~ 1220 °C) beneath Zhejiang, thus the magmas were presumably derived from the asthenosphere. Some typical geochemical features such as negative K, Pb anomalies, positive Ba, Sr, Nb, Ta anomalies and the extremely high Os isotopic signatures, suggest participation of EM-like mantle sources, indicative of ancient subducted oceanic crust. ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) i (0.7037–0.7046) and 143 Nd/ 144 Nd (0.512832–0.512990) isotope ratios point to the presence of mixed components in the source region, i.e., DMM, EM1 and EM2. Recent seismic tomographic images of the mantle beneath Zhejiang suggest the presence of a subducted slab of oceanic lithosphere in the transition zone. Based on the combined geophysical and geochemical evidence, we propose that the major source of the Zhejiang basaltic magmas was the ancient subducted oceanic slab in the transition zone with an EM-like signature. The other magma sources include depleted asthenospheric peridotite possessing a DMM-like signature. The dynamics of this upwelling hybrid magma was apparently related to westward subduction of the Pacific plate underneath the eastern Asian continent. This process may have triggered the widespread Cenozoic volcanism related to the lithospheric thinning in East China in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: We measured female reproductive traits of a colubrid snake (Lycodon rufozonatus) from Zhejiang, East China in four years (1999, 2010, 2011, and 2014). After removing the influence of female size, postpartum body mass was greater in 2010 than in 2014, clutch mass was greater in 2010 than in 2011 and 2014, and egg size was greater in 2010 than in the other three years. Egg size was positively related to postpartum body condition in each year. Females laid larger eggs in 2010 than in other three years after removing the influence of maternal size and body condition. Our study does not follow the prediction that reproductive females with different amounts of resources to invest should give priority to adjusting the number rather than size of offspring. Long-term studies are especially suited for disentangling the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on both total reproductive investment and reproductive allocation in offspring number versus offspring size. Female reproductive traits of the red-banded wolf snake (Lycodon rufozonatus) from Zhejiang, East China were studied in four years between 1999 and 2014. Egg-laying dates overall extended from late June to late July, and varied among years. Postpartum body mass, clutch size, clutch mass, and egg size were positively related to female size (snout vent length, SVL) in each year. Postpartum body mass, clutch mass, and egg size differed among years after accounting for female SVL, whereas clutch size did not. Setting female SVL at the same level, postpartum body mass was greater in 2010 than in 2014, clutch mass was greater in 2010 than in 2011 and 2014, and egg size was greater in 2010 than in the other three years. Females did not trade off egg size against number. Egg size was positively related to postpartum body condition in each year. Females laid larger eggs in 2010 than in other three years after removing the influence of maternal body condition. Our study provides evidence for the traditional view that reproductive output is highly linked to maternal body size in snakes, but not following Smith and Fretwell's (1974) classic prediction that females with different amounts of resources to invest in reproduction should give priority to adjusting the number rather than size of their offspring. Maternal body size and condition both are important sources of variation in egg size, but factors other than these two variables may also affect the size of eggs produced by female L. rufozonatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]