Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Crocodile tears - telegraph.co.uk
Crocodiles don't cry, but they do shed tears. The nerve supply to their salivary glands and tear ducts are next door to each other, so that, when a crocodile spots lunch, it drools and "cries" simultaneously.
As it eats, tears well up and its eyes fill with froth and bubbles.
The term "crocodile tears" gained wide popularity as a result of a single passage in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, first published in the 14th century:
"In many places of Inde are many crocodiles - that is, a manner of long serpent. These serpents slay men and they eat them weeping."
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