There is a common expression “crocodile tears”, meaning a feigned, hypocritical sympathy for the victim. We decided to check if the crocodiles can really cry and whether they do it out of a sense of pity.
The phraseologism "Crocodile tears" is so common that its literal Analogs There are many languages: for example, in English - Crocodile Tears, in German - Krokodilstränen and in French - Larmes de Crocodile. In medieval traditions The “tears of crocodiles” meant sincere repentance to the victim, and only Rotterdam's erazm for the first time uses this expression in the meaning familiar to us. This expression is also found in Russian literature, for example "Stories of one city" Saltykova-Shchedrin and in the play "Wolves and sheep" Ostrovsky. Use this phraseology and modern media, for example "Fontanka", "Ren-TV", "RIA Novosti"And others.
Lotting is not uncommon phenomenon In animals. It is found in reptiles, and in some birds, and even in cats and dogs. This is not due to the manifestation of emotions, but with the need to moisturize your eyes or with some injuries. In this case, only in crocodiles tears are customary to associate with meals.
Of course, crocodiles cannot experience any pity for their victim, they are predators, and they do not have a nervous system so developed to feel any empathy. And they show emotions in a completely different way. This is partly proved experiment Biologist George Johnson, which he conducted in 1927. To check whether the crocodiles can cry, he dripped into their eyes with onion juice mixed with salt. Despite the fact that this most likely caused the animals discomfort and annoyed the mucous membrane, the crocodiles did not cry, and Johnson came to the conclusion that “crocodile tears” are just an artistic metaphor. Besides countsthat the only animals whose tears are associated with the manifestation of emotions are people.
However, later studies have shown that from the eyes of crocodiles, alligators and their relatives, liquid, similar to tears, can really be released. Soviet biologist and popularizer of science Igor Akimushkin in his book "Patents of the underwater kingdom"Referring to the research of their Swedish colleagues, claims that crocodiles can really cry, but this is not due to an expression of emotions, but only with the need to remove salts from the body. Since the kidneys of reptiles cannot cope with this task properly, special glands developed in crocodiles and their relatives, which help the kidneys to remove excess salt. And these glands are located right near the eyes.
Specialists of the Udmurt Zoo agree With this version, but they emphasize that this fluid can hardly be called tears, since they are not released, but of people, but special saline. At the same time, these salt “tears” really stand out in crocodiles precisely during food, since when chewing food, the glands are compressed and the liquid comes out.
At the same time, a similar effect during eating is also found in people - it causes the Bogorada syndrome, the disease, otherwise called the crocodile tears syndrome. Malcolm Sheiner, a neurologist from the University of California, who studies this disease, decided to find out if this syndrome has some kind of connection with the fact that crocodiles are observed. He invited Kent's zoologist to take part in research. Despite the fact that in myths, crocodiles usually cry, eating people, to feed a person to these animals, by their own admission of scientists, they did not dare, so they were content with special food. Scheiner and Fires conducted their experiment on Zooferm in Florida and took alligators and kaymanov - close relatives of crocodiles as experimental animals. They watched them, filmed the feeding process on the video and found that five of the seven really had a lacrimation process during meals, and some even performed foam and bubbles. Scientists did not come to an unambiguous conclusion than such an effect caused, only assumed that this is due to air passing through the nasal sinuses and mixing with liquid in the lumpy glands of animals. However, they are sure: this is certainly in no way connected with the emotional state of crocodiles.
Thus, the “tears of crocodiles” really exist and sometimes flow from the eyes of these reptiles during food. But calling it to cry somewhat incorrect, because meaning This word in the Russian language is inextricably linked with the expression of pain, grief or other feelings. It would be semantically correct to say that crocodiles have eyes watery during meals.
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