Editing Carnivore (section)

===Paleozoic===
The degradation of [[seafloor]] [[microbial mat]]s due to the [[Cambrian substrate revolution]] led to increased active predation among animals, likely triggering various [[evolutionary arms race]]s that contributed to the rapid [[genetic divergence|diversification]] during the [[Cambrian explosion]]. [[Radiodont]] [[arthropod]]s, which produced the first [[apex predator]]s such as ''[[Anomalocaris]]'', quickly became the dominant carnivores of the Cambrian sea. After their decline due to the [[Cambrian-Ordovician extinction event]], the niches of large carnivores were taken over by [[nautiloid]] [[cephalopod]]s such as ''[[Cameroceras]]'' and later [[eurypterid]]s such as ''[[Jaekelopterus]]'' during the [[Ordovician]] and [[Silurian]] periods.

The first [[vertebrate]] carnivores appeared after the [[evolution of fish|evolution]] of [[jawed fish]], especially [[armour (zoology)|armor]]ed [[placoderm]]s such as the massive ''[[Dunkleosteus]]''. The dominance of placoderms in the [[Devonian]] ocean forced other fish to venture into other niches, and one clade of [[bony fish]], the [[lobe-finned fish]], became the dominant carnivores of [[freshwater]] [[wetland]]s formed by early [[land plant]]s. Some of these fish became better adapted for breathing air and eventually giving rise to [[amphibian]] [[tetrapod]]s. These early tetrapods were large [[semi-aquatic]] [[piscivores]] and [[riparian]] [[ambush predator]]s that hunt [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] arthropods (mainly [[arachnid]]s and [[myriopod]]s), and one group in particular, the [[temnospondyl]]s, became terrestrial apex predators that hunt other tetrapods.<ref name=Sahney-Benton-Ferry-2010/>

The dominance of temnospondyls around the wetland habitats throughout the [[Carboniferous]] forced other amphibians to evolve into [[amniote]]s that had adaptations that allowed them to live farther away from water bodies. These amniotes began to evolve both carnivory, which was a natural transition from insectivory requiring minimal adaptation; and [[herbivory]], which took advantage of the abundance of [[coal forest]] [[foliage]] but in contrast required a complex set of adaptations that was necessary for digesting on the [[cellulose]]- and [[lignin]]-rich plant materials.<ref name=Sahney-Benton-Ferry-2010/> After the [[Carboniferous rainforest collapse]], both [[synapsid]] and [[sauropsid]] amniotes quickly gained dominance as the top terrestrial animals during the subsequent [[Permian]] period. Some scientists assert that [[sphenacodontoid]] synapsids such as ''[[Dimetrodon]]'' "were the first terrestrial vertebrate to develop the curved, serrated teeth that enable a predator to eat prey much larger than itself".<ref name=Foley-2014-02-07/>