The special body plan of Yunnanozoon is almost identical to that of the living enteropneust hemichordate Balanoglossus,which suggests that the earlyCambrian creature is ancestral to the hemichordates.

这种独特造型与现生肠鳃类动物几无二，从而表明这个早寒武世动物是地球动物门中已知最古老祖先类型。