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.

这种独特的身体造生肠鳃类半索动几无二，从而表明这个早寒武世动球上半索动门中已知最古老的祖先类。