[Lee Stewart]

Ever heard about the expression "Crocodile tears"? In our culture, it means showing insincere remorse and comes from the fact that crocodiles produce tears when they eat their prey. However, it doesn't mean they actually cry.

UF zoologist Kent Vliet carried out a study and found the tears in crocodiles may occur as a result of the reptiles 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.

The glands produce a fluid that helps to clean the eye and lubricate the passage of the nictitating membrane across the eye's surface.