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.

这种独特的身体现生肠鳃类半索动物几无二，从而表明这个早寒武世动物上半索动物门中已知最古老的祖先类。