If evolution is real...?

Question

Why is it that animals haven't evolved so they don't taste so good to other animals?

Being poisonous does not mean that they don't taste good.

Answer 1

There are many ways to answer this question.

If a species evolved a foul taste, then the predator species could coevolve to enjoy that foul flavor. Sort of like the evolutionary arms race... Species won't survive if they can't eat because they don't like their food. Individuals who aren't picky about taste, or who happen to like nasty-flavored flesh, are the ones who are going to survive, thus passing on their tastebud traits to offspring.

Or, you could ask, What is it about the animal's flesh that makes it tasty to others? Is it the taste of the blood? The muscle? Suppose that altering the taste of one's flesh through chemical compounds (or whatever) brought costs that outweighed the benefit of tasting bad?

Instead of avoiding predators by tasting bad, what if a species can evolve other mechanisms of survival, such as not getting caught in the first place?

And, as others have already mentioned, many animals have evolved to taste bad to predators. Every situation is a little different.

Answer 2

What kind of evolution are you talking about? There are six different kinds. There is the macro evolution. Where one kind of species evolves to adapt to an environment. For a example a Darwin's study of the finch. Different finches adapted to conditions on an island. Some had thick beaks others had long thins ones. That is real. The other types are not. We did not evolve from apes. What animals don't taste good to others? Some animals do eat other animals it depends on the kind.

Answer 3

A bad tasting animal would have to survive being caught and badly mauled to breed and pass it's genes on. That would be a neat trick considering all the opportunities for infections.

Yes, mild poisons discourage predation in animals that are readily identifiable and who reproduce in great numbers. Most poisonous species only make predators sick so they learn not to eat similar looking animals in the future. There'd be little protective value in an animal that always killed curious predators who tried a little nibble.

Altering the taste of the flesh would require altering the chemistry of the muscles and organs, both of which would likely reduce efficiency causing greater mortality rates through disease and predation.

Remember, predators aren't connoisseurs, they eat because they are hungry, if they're hungry enough they'll eat anything. If it doesn't kill them or make them ill, they will eventually get used to it.

Many of the spices we flavor our foods with evolved because the chemicals in them deter consumption of plants by insects.

Answer 4

Maybe some have evolved to like the taste. Just because one species evolves doesn't mean all others do not.

Build a better mouse trap, the mouse gets smarter... constant evolution includes the learning curve.

Answer 5

Gee if an animal tastes good but is poisonous the predator eating it will die, so I guess it won't be eating those animals anymore. Predators that eat other prey will survive and leave offspring, those that persist in eating the poisonous prey won't.

That's evolution.

Answer 6

They do, but then other animals evolve that don't care about taste at all!

Answer 7

Your premise is incorrect. There are numerous species of animals which have evolved mechanisms to make them taste bad to predators. The monarch butterfly is one of them; the cane toad is another. There are plenty more.

Answer 8

Lots have.

Example: those icky toads that your dog spits out.

All animals have different defense mechanisms, even if sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Answer 9

Animals have to eat each other. It is known as the food chain. It keeps things equal.

Answer 10

Evolution did not happen. Darwin himself appologized for coming up with his theory, but it was too late. It was already in all the text books by that time.