14 DAY TRIAL // To "cry crocodile tears" is a common expression which is used for depicting fake sadness. It has its origins in the myth according to which reptiles weep while eating humans. But, believe it or not, a new research made at the University of Florida revealed the big beasts really do shed tears while feasting, but rather due to physiological reasons than remorse.
The team observed and videotaped 4 captive caymans and 3 alligators, both closely related to the crocodile, while eating dry ground at Florida's St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. Five beasts shed tears while tearing food, some crocodilian eyes even frothing and bubbling.
"There are a lot of references in general literature to crocodiles feeding and crying, but it's almost entirely anecdotal. And from the biological perspective there is quite a bit of confusion on the subject in the scientific literature, so we decided to take a closer look." said co-author zoologist Kent Vliet.
Co-author Dr. Malcolm Shaner, a consultant in neurology at Kaiser Permanente, West Los Angeles and an associate clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, was studying a rare human syndrome connected with human facial palsy that makes patients cry while eating and he was intrigued if the syndrome's general denomination, "crocodile tears", had a biological base.
The scientific literature about the crocodile tears is contradictory or confusing, not to mention that most are not even quite scientific.
Of course, the tested crocodilians were not fed with humans, but dog biscuit-like alligator food. The researchers opted for alligators and caimans, rather than crocodiles, because these species are trained at the farm for dry ground feeding, an essential condition to see the weeping, as in water the animals' eyes would soak anyway.
"The farm's keepers don't train the crocodiles to feed on land because they are so agile and aggressive," said Vliet. But crocodiles must have the same physiology as alligators and caymans, due to their close relativeness. But the reason for the crocodile tears is still an enigma.
"It may occur as a result of the animals hissing and huffing, a behavior that often accompanies feeding." said Vliet. Air pushed through the sinuses could mix with tears in the animal's lacrimal (tear) glands and the content would be emptied into the eye; but remorse or fake grief cannot be taken into account.
"In my experience, when crocodiles take something into their mouth, they mean it." said Vliet.