Myllokunmingia is a genus of basal chordate from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shales of China 518 mya and is thought to be a vertebrate,[2] although this is not conclusively proven.

It is among the oldest possible craniates, found in the lower Cambrian Chengjiang (518 million years ago).

The holotype was found in the Yuanshan member of the Qiongzhusi Formation in the Eoredlichia Zone near Haikou at Ercaicun, Kunming City, Yunnan, China.

Some researchers have considered the other primitive chordate Haikouichthys to be synonymous with this taxon,[4] but subsequent studies led by the British paleontologist Simon Conway Morris identified both genera to be distinct, separate taxa on the basis of different gill arrangement,[5] the absence of branchial rays in Myllokunmingia and the myomeres having a more acute shape in Haikouichthys.

[6] The animal has a distinct head and trunk with a forward sail-like (1.5 mm) dorsal fin and a ventral finfold (probably paired) further back.