[MarianaM (OP)]

Dan asks...

I watched a survival show, where the host caught a skunk, cooked it and ate it, but said it was awful. It got me wondering - are most animals edible? We hear about not eating wild mushrooms or puffer fish, but it seems that almost everything is edible. Does evolution play a role? And taking that to an extreme, what are the odds that dinosaurs were edible?

What do you think? Can you satisfy Dan's hunger?

[chiralSPO]

Cooking can turn many inedible things into at least somewhat edible foods.

But we probably wouldn't even need that to eat dinosaurs (though it would be much tastier cooked). Since we can eat most reptiles (lizards, snakes, turtles etc.), which branched off before the dinos, and we can eat most birds (chicken, pigeon, duck, emu, etc.), which evolved from dinosaurs, I would say its a safe bet we could eat dinosaur meat.

[Bored chemist]

Depending on your definition, there's a lot of money being made in Southern fried dinosaur.

[Hayseed]

Only a small young one.  Only harvest what can be readily eaten.  Less parasites.  And not as tough.  And only a small fire needed for the benefit for future generations.

The eggs should be excellent.  And have a short storage period.

Taste like cooter.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Depending on your definition, there's a lot of money being made in Southern fried dinosaur.

Well, KFCs are fried dinosaurs.

[Bored chemist]

Depending on your definition, there's a lot of money being made in Southern fried dinosaur.

Well, KFCs are fried dinosaurs.

Or not; depending on your definition.
That's kind of ... the point.

Also
All mushrooms are edible... once.

[diverjohn]

Animal that don't want to be made into meals may spend resources creating toxic substances to deter hungry animals. Toads, some ants, blow-fish, and so forth.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Depending on your definition, there's a lot of money being made in Southern fried dinosaur.

Well, KFCs are fried dinosaurs.

Or not; depending on your definition.
That's kind of ... the point.

Also
All mushrooms are edible... once.

Well, I was just trying to sound badass by stating that I eat dinosaurs for breakfast.

[chiralSPO]

Animal that don't want to be made into meals may spend resources creating toxic substances to deter hungry animals. Toads, some ants, blow-fish, and so forth.

Indeed. I had left out the first part of the OP's question in my first response.

I think a greater percentage of animals are edible than plants because animals can defend themselves by being fast, or strong, or smart.

Plants and fungi and bacteria defend themselves with chemical weapons.

Most of the edible plants we eat are parts that the plants "want" us to eat--like fruits, or they have been selectively bred by humans for millennia (or, like tapioca/yuca/manioc/cassava, we just boil the heck out of it to destroy the toxins...)