Discover Why Crocodiles Cry When They Eat

Have you ever heard the phrase they cried crocodile tears? Or have you heard someone reference crocodiles and crying with the main premise being their tears? If you have, you are on the right track to Discover Why Crocodiles Cry When They Eat.

Back in the 14th century, there was a book written by John Mandeville, a book he titled “The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.” In this book, he took stories from travelers (stories once told to him), embellished them, and made them into a book. He was initially published in French in 1356-57. Ironically, the English counterpart did not exist until 1375.

Cry crocodile tears: the very beginning.

In this book, a story is told of a crying . As tales go, while a knight travels through Asia, they come across a crocodile. Right off the bat, I will say it’s super believable. From reading my previous article, We know that crocodiles inhabit Asia.

In the story, a knight traveling through Asia looking at some crocks has a thought. The has an article on the book “The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.” the thought is said to be, “These serpents sley men and eate them weeping, and they have no tongue.” This beautiful line of poetry from this book, written in 1356, went to Shakespeare’s ears. Eventually, the weeping crocodile theory was born. Somewhere along the lines of life, Shakespeare had written about how the crocodiles weep while eating due to the sorrow they feel for their prey. This is a feeling he received while reading the book by John Mandeville.

The fable was born!

Every research effort I put forth to find the book written by John Mandeville mentioned a fable. An old tale about a crocodile crying, a myth, a legend, a ghostly story whispered lightly. Coincidentally, everyone knows the account of the crocodile with the big tears. Feeling empathy for the creature, it must devour to keep itself alive. Yet, not many know where the story started. It took some digging to unearth where the mystery came from. Now, onto the next question.

Do crocodiles cry when they eat?

The debate on this is a strong one. I have seen several different theories. My eyes have skimmed over so many opinions. In the end, it just depends on your perception of things.

As a result, to get to the bottom of things, you need to ask yourself a series of questions regarding crocodiles, tears, and their emotions to come up with a proper answer. I have gathered some of these questions here and provided you with the research I have found.

Do crocodiles feel emotion/sorrow?

The National Library of Medicine did several studies looking into this. As a result, they found that reptiles are capable of feeling emotion. A direct quote I found in their article, says they did 37 different studies which concluded “reptiles to be capable of the following emotions and states: anxiety, stress, distress, excitement, fear, frustration, pain, and suffering. We also found four articles that explored and found evidence for the capacity of reptiles to feel pleasure, emotion, and anxiety.”

The National Library of Medicine believes that the lack of scientific study on reptiles due to the bias that hovers over the species limits our knowledge of the animal. Correctly speaking, there are other animals that we, as humans, have studied more in-depth.

Cold-blooded animals are not studied in such detail as their warm-blooded counterparts. Many assumptions are made based on this fact about these animals that have never been proven and scientifically studied.

As for the question, can crocodiles feel emotions/sorrow? That would be a two-parter. Yes, they do feel emotion. We are well aware of that and have studies to prove it. What kind of emotion is where I think things get iffy? If you want to know if they feel sadness over the meal they consume, unfortunately, no specific test is done. But, to ask if they feel emotions- yes, they do. They cannot tell us why they are experiencing them.

Can crocodiles cry?

This question, to me, basically comes down to their physical body makeup. Do they have the ability to cry? Do they have tear ducts? Can they produce actual tears? Does their cold-blooded body do these things?

As I know, you should never answer a question with a question. I have provided you with some knowledge I found.

First, we need to figure out what a tear is. Mucus…..a tear is mucus mixed with some oil and some water. Technically speaking, tears help keep your eyes healthy. They do this by forming a film over your eye. The mucus helps the film stick to your eye, the oil helps your eye from drying out, and the water acts as an all-natural saline solution. The tear is your body’s way of protecting your eyeball. Oh, and yes, by the way, all mammals have these. But do reptiles.

National Geographic has written an article titled, which tells us that in 2020, Brazilian veterinarians had been studying the tears in reptiles. What they found is that tears are not just an emotionally based phenomenon. They are a regular thing your body does; yes, reptiles have tears.

Tears help lubricate, clean, and give your eye the nutrients it needs. Several species have this ability. It is also known that some species do not.

It has also been said that those species that live in aquatic environments, especially salt water, have thicker tears. National Geographic mentioned that these tears had to be collected explicitly with a syringe due to their thickness in performing their studies. In performing their studies

What is crocodile tear syndrome?

I found this nifty information I wanted to share while doing my research. There is a condition called Crocodile Tear Syndrome in humans recovering from Bell palsy. This is when patients seem to “cry” while eating or drinking. Sometimes, it is referred to as .

The name of this syndrome came from a recent myth that says Crocodiles Cry When They Are Eating.