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morgana800
Morocco
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Crocodiles do shed copious tears. But the reason is very mundane. It is not because humans have been pretty unfair to them, not out of shame and certainly not out of remorse. They produce tears from lachrymal glands, just like us, for cleaning, moistening and lubricating the eyes.
But interestingly, unlike humans they have a functioning ‘third eyelid’ called nictitating membrane. This eyelid is transparent and serves to keep the eyes moist and maintain visibility under water. Nicititating means winking and this membrane helps keep vision uninterrupted during winking. This is also called a haw.
We also have that but it has become vestigial and it is that functionless pink mass behind the inner corner. Of course, it not only crocs but many reptiles, sharks and birds that have a nictitating membrane. They use it and don’t lose it. Many mammals also have them.
Incidentally the culprit responsible for giving a villainous twist to crocodiles by calling their tears fake was a 13th Century French monk Bartholomaeus Anglicus who wrote in his book on natural sciences that “If the crocodile findeth a man by the brim of the water, or by the cliff, he slayeth him there if he may, and then weepeth upon him and swalloweth him at last”. And Shakespeare also shares the blame as he made the idea more popular.
This shot was taken from a very close range; 50 cms or so. I was emboldened by the fact that gharials are rarely aggressive and I have seen this fellow invariably move away rather than confront. But he was a big fellow to be sure and I was nervous. And he did move away shortly thereafter.
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