Scientists find crocodile tears are real

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have dispelled at least one old wives tale, crocodiles actually do shed tears -- at least for physiological reasons.

University of Florida zoologist Kent Vliet studied four captive caimans and three alligators, both close relatives of the crocodile, while they were eating on land at Florida’s St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

He found five of the seven animals shed tears as they ate, with some of their 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," Vliet said.

He decided to observe alligators and caimans rather than crocodiles because they are trained at the farm to feed on dry land and it would be difficult to observe tearing in the water.

What causes the tears remains a mystery but Vliet said he believes they might occur as a result of the animals hissing and huffing -- a behavior that often accompanies feeding. Air forced through the sinuses may mix with tears in the crocodiles’ lacrimal, or tear, glands emptying into the eye.

A research paper co-written with University of California-Los Angeles Associate Professor D. Malcolm Shaner appears in the journal BioScience.