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.

种独特的身体造型与现生肠鳃类物几无二，从而表明寒武世物是地球上物门中已知最古老的祖先类型。