Do Crocodiles Shed Real Tears? Yes, For Real… Sincerely

A University of Florida (UF) researcher has found that crocodiles do cry while eating, just as the myths and anecdotal stories have always said.

UF zoologist Kent Vliet began the project of examining crocodilians for tears after he received a call from D. Malcolm Shaner who is a consultant in neurology at Kaiser Permanente, West Los Angeles and an associate clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles

Shaner, who co-authored the paper that appears in the latest edition of the journal BioScience, was investigating a relatively rare syndrome associated with human facial palsy that causes sufferers to cry while eating. He asked Vliet if the general term for the syndrome, crocodile tears, was founded in biological fact.

“There are a lot of references in general literature to crocodiles feeding and crying, but it’s almost entirely anecdotal,” Vliet said. “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.”

The term may have gained wide popularity as a result of a passage in one book, “The Voyage and Travel of Sir John Mandeville,” was first published in 1400 and read widely. It may have been the source of the original popularity of the phrase, “crying crocodile tears.” The passage from C. W. R. D. Moseley’s pertaining to crocodiles says, “In that country be a general plenty of crocodiles …These serpents slay men and they eat them weeping.”

Vliet observed and videotaped crocodilians: four captive caimans and three alligators, both close relatives of the crocodile while they were eating on a spit of dry land at Florida’s St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

With no humans whom Shaner was willing to spare, Vliet fed the crocodilians the dog-biscuit-like alligator food that is the staple at the St. Augustine alligator farm. Vliet’s choice to observe crocodilians instead of crocodiles was based on an important fact. St Augustine farm trains crocodilians to eat on dry land. This is critical to seeing the tearing because while eating in water the crocodile’s eyes would be wet already.

The reason the farm’s keepers don’t train the crocodiles to feed on land is that they are so agile and aggressive, Vliet said. Vliet also said he feels sure the crocodiles would have the same reaction as alligators and caimans, because are all closely related crocodilians.

In his observations of the crocodilians, Vliet found that five of the seven reptiles teared up as they tore into their food; some of their teary eyes even frothed and bubbled. But what causes the tears remains a mystery.

Vliet said he believes the tears may occur as a result of the reptile’s hissing and huffing. This behavior often accompanies feeding. Vliet and Shaner speculate that air forced through the sinuses may mix with tears in the lacrimal, or tear, glands and then empty into the eyes.

But one thing is sure: remorse inspired faux grief is not a factor. “In my experience,” Vliet said, “when crocodiles take something into their mouth, they mean it.” No remorse for feeding is felt.

“Researchers: No faking it, crocodile tears are real,” University of Florida.