Little pieces of mystery from the Silurian of the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

Three-dimensionally preserved fragments of the enigmatic organism Sandvikina, previously reported from the Silurian of Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia, were recovered from the original Irish material that had revealed the problematic in thin sections. The new specimens derive from conodont residue and document silicified sectors of the distal part of the skeleton. A different pattern characterizes the outer and inner walls, with an external net-like reticulated and an internal continuous and apparently imperforate framework, getting therefore a filter-like feeding system function highly improbable.