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.

这独特的身体造型与现生肠鳃类半索动物几无二，从而表明这个早寒武世动物是地球上半索动物知最古老的祖先类型。