You'll probably not be surprised to read articles detailing facts about human tears. Some may have already come across half of the items included on most listings.
But here's an amazing tear fact that you may have not heard before: mouse tears are aphrodisiacs.
According to a study, male mouse tears contain a sex pheromone called ESP1, which makes female mice more receptive to mounting.
While sex pheromones are known to have similar effects in other animals, the study shows for the first time how the interaction works "at the molecular level and also the brain level," said study co-author Kazushige Touhara of the University of Tokyo.
Male mice shed tears to keep their eyes from drying out. The tear and the pheromone get spread around their bodies as they groom themselves.
Upon contact, the pheromone is sent to sex-specific regions in the female's brain. The female mouse is then three times more likely to engage in what's called lordosis behavior, characterized by immobility on the part of the female along with an arching of the back and hindleg extension that elevates the rump and head.
While many animals "cry" by making vocalizations as emotional expressions or sounds of pain, humans are the only animals that shed tears.
Check out Teary Facts About the Science of Crying from Mercola.com.