Thursday, October 25, 2007

Cry Me A River

One of natures fiercest predators may have a softer side....... Evidence has been provided that during feeding crocodiles shed tears. Obviously they aren’t showing remorse over their recent kill, but why then are they shedding what looks to be like tears? It is difficult to observe a Crocodile in nature when it feeds because they are aggressive, live in water, and tend to submerge their victims before feeding upon them. At the University of Florida researchers observed the feeding behaviors of captive alligators and caimans, close relatives to crocodiles. These to captive species had been conditioned to eat on dry land where they could be viewed. They were fed a dry food diet similar to that of what dogs eat and a majority of they time they both shed tears.

Researchers have come to the conclusion that this is more of a protective response by the animal than an emotional one. The eyes are very close to the mouth were a lot of activity is going on. Crocodiles hiss and huff when they feed this forces air through their sinuses where it then stimulates the production of fluid in the tear glands. The air also forces the fluid into the eye, causing the eye to fill up with moisture and when overflow occurs and drips down the face it looks like tears. Tears are also squeezed out of the ducts when the animals is contracting its jaws muscle while eating. The tears lubricate the eye, and add another layer to prevent contact with the eye. It helps to flush out unwanted particles. The eye also recedes into the head when feeding. So as for a softer side, it looks like the crocodile is shedding “crocodile tears.”

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Posted by Jessica Johnson (5)

2 Comments:

At 8:21 AM, Blogger PWH said...

Very interesting article. The mechanism obviously has several practical purposes for the crocodile. The pressure with which a crocodiles jaw contracts would most likely force the excretion of tears from the tear ducts.Do any other amphibians exhibit this "tear excretion" behavior? It would be interesting to know.

Posted by: Doug Zelisko (5)

 
At 12:08 PM, Blogger PWH said...

Good article. Animals normally dont cry the way we humans do, but instead they produce tear glands called lachrimation. This method of excretion proves the animal has healthy eyes. These tears are produced to clean or wash away any sort of dirt present in the animals eye. Different factors stimulates the tear prodution in different animals, and as for the crocodiles, consumption of food is what stimulates their tear production. This is probably because when the animal is eating some particle of the food has a tendency to get into the animals eyes because its eyes are located close to its mouth, thats why the crocodile produces tears.

Posted by Kofi (5)

 

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