The vertebrate skeleton had traditionally been regarded as a defensive development, champions of this view postulating that it was only with the much later evolution of jaws that vertebrates became predators.
逗号前面那一句没有问题,主要是postulating that后面的从句。it是指代vertebrates became predators的吗?那就是个主语从句咯,那么可以简化为xx was only with the much later evolution of jaws。进一步简化为xx was with the evolution. 这又表达的什么意思呢?不懂