Ok, as a result of evolution animals tend to get the nutrients they need in their diets. However, what happens if they are low on a certain vitamin or mineral? How do they react?
Through discussion, we have come up with a few different possible results:
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The animal has no idea what is wrong, and wanders around in the regular pattern until it dies. (I reject this, as evolution would tend to find some way of fixing this, even if it was to eat random stuff in the hope something would work)
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The animal experiences some sort of compulsion to eat certain foods based on what is lacked. (e.g. the body lacks iron, the animal wants to eat foods that are high in iron)
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A more extreme version of #2, where the animal actually craves a certain nutrient even to the point of recognizing it in the natural form. (e.g. when low on iron, the animal will actually gnaw on iron ore, rusting metal, etc…)
Which if any of these is accurate? Can the body sense and interpret the lack of a certain nutrient similarly to the sense of hunger and thirst? There are two opinions in the discussion now:
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The body cannot recognize the lack of a certain nutrient, either cognitively or in the form of a preference for certain things.
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The body can recognize the lack of a certain nutrient, not cognitively but will cause a preference for either certain foods or a certain taste indicative of a contained nutrient.
Is there any evidence of animals eating nutrients, specifically iron as an example, in their base forms? Please differentiate between things such as salt licks, as animals will partake even if they have healthy levels of salt already.
I leave it to the excellent minds present to settle this matter.