Vernanimalcula guizhouena is an acritarch dating from 600 to 580 million years ago; it was between 0.1 and 0.2 mm across (roughly the width of one or two human hairs).

This formation is a Konservat-Lagerstätte, one of the rare places where soft body parts and very fine details are preserved in the fossil record.

The Vernanimalcula fossils were interpreted as showing a triploblastic structure, a coelom, a differentiated gut, a mouth, an anus, and paired external pits that were believed possible sense organs, making it the earliest known member of the Bilateria (animals with bilateral symmetry, at least as embryos).

The appearance of Vernanimalcula so early in the fossil record was believed to have had important implications if it were really bilaterian.

[6][7] Chen et al. initially defended their interpretation of Vernanimalcula against the claims of Bengtson and Budd.