The late Ediacaran soft-bodied macroorganism
Dickinsonia
(age range approx. 560–550 Ma) has often been interpreted as an early animal, and is increasingly invoked in debate on the evolutionary assembly of eumetazoan body plans. However, conclusive positive evidence in support of such a phylogenetic affinity has not been forthcoming. Here we subject a collection of
Dickinsonia
specimens interpreted to represent multiple ontogenetic stages to a novel, quantitative method for studying growth and development in organisms with an iterative body plan. Our study demonstrates that
Dickinsonia
grew via pre-terminal ‘deltoidal’ insertion and inflation of constructional units, followed by a later inflation-dominated phase of growth. This growth model is contrary to the widely held assumption that
Dickinsonia
grew via terminal addition of units at the end of the organism bearing the smallest units. When considered alongside morphological and behavioural attributes, our developmental data phylogenetically constrain
Dickinsonia
to the Metazoa, specifically the Eumetazoa plus Placozoa total group. Our findings have implications for the use of
Dickinsonia
in developmental debates surrounding the metazoan acquisition of axis specification and metamerism.