Crocodile tears

" Shedding crocodile tears " is a phrase that will bring a hypocritical display of sorrow, sadness or sympathy to express. The origin lies in an actual tear secretion, the different types of crocodiles ( alligators and caimans included ) secrete during feeding and this was interpreted as hypocrisy. After a fabulous idea entice crocodiles to their victims by crying like a child. Pliny the Elder in his Historia naturalis assumed that crocodiles wept after their victims, that is, feigned grief over their prey. Even the medieval Physiologus handed down:

The actual cause of tear production is not yet clear. According to one hypothesis, when the reptiles open their mouths very wide - as is the case with food intake - put pressure on the tear ducts, causing the tear fluid is released. Because sometimes the formation of foam in between the eyelids of animals is observed, the tearing could also be caused by that is mixed with air in the sinuses tear the tear glands. Nor can it be ruled out that the tearing is accompanied by a change of mood of the animals during feeding.