what animals use the sense of taste in daily life to protect themselves?

Question

i need info on an animal that will use the sense of taste in daily life to make its life easier and i dont mean a snake thats smell.
help!

Answer 1

Grazing herbivores are really dependent on taste, as lots of plants are poisonous for the specific purpose of deterring grazers. If you watch a herbivore at work they carefully taste only a small amount of something they are unsure of and reject it instantly if it is unpalatable. This is especially noticeable in young animals, who have to learn what's edible and what's not.

Lots of fields in this country get invaded by a highly poisonous plant called ragwort which is lethal to herbivores as it causes liver damage. These plants will be completely grazed around and left untouched. It's only when it ends up dried and tasteless in hay that it gets eaten and does all the damage.

Answer 2

In a sense we do. The sense of taste developed as a way of protecting ourselves from poisonous compounds. That's why bitter is quite distateful as poisons are quite often bitter tasting.

Answer 3

We all do. It helps to keep us from getting poisoned.
The barbels on a catfish are loaded with taste buds and are used in finding food on the bottom of murky waters, other fishes with barbels are mostly bottom feeders too.

Answer 4

All animals do. That's the purpose of taste - to protect us from eating something poisenous.