Chalawan

Chalawan Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Family:	†Pholidosauridae
Genus:	†Chalawan Martin et al., 2013
Type species
†Sunosuchus thailandicus Buffetaut and Ingavat, 1980
Synonyms
? Sunosuchus shartegensis Efimov, 1988

? Sunosuchus shartegensis Efimov, 1988

Chalawan (Thai: ชาละวัน, pronounced [t͡ɕʰāː.lā.wān]) is an extinct genus of pholidosaurid mesoeucrocodylian known from the Early Cretaceous Phu Kradung Formation of Nong Bua Lamphu Province, northeastern Thailand. It contains a single species, Chalawan thailandicus.

Chalawan is currently known solely from its holotype, a nearly complete lower jaw collected in the early 1980s from a road-cut near the town of Nong Bua Lamphu, in the upper part of the Phu Kradung Formation. This single specimen is the most well preserved vertebrate fossil that has been found from the formation; other vertebrates, including dinosaurs, are known only from fragmentary remains. This formation was originally considered to be Early to Middle Jurassic in age, however its age has been revised and except for its lowermost part which was probably deposited during the Late Jurassic, is now considered Early Cretaceous. The specimen was originally assigned to a new species of the goniopholidid Sunosuchus. Sunosuchus thailandicus was first described and named by Eric Buffetaut and Rucha Ingavat in 1980. The mandible is very robust, and its tip is spoon shaped and wider than the portion of the jaw immediately behind it. Buffetaut and Ingavat (1980-1984) noted that S. thailandicus shares features with both goniopholidids and pholidosaurids, and considered it an indication of a close relation between the two groups.

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