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.

这种独特的身体造型与鳃类半索几无二，从而表明这个早寒武是地球上半索门中已知最古老的祖先类型。