Why do mantis shrimps and birds (including predatory birds) have the ability to see so many colors? What purpose does it serve?

Question

Based on info I got by searching this sub, color vision exists to help forage for ripe fruit, while less cones/more rods help hunt/track movement etc – so it seems counter-intuitive for these predators to have such vast color vision.

Thank you

In: 1

Answer 1

If many of the animals that eat you are all bioengineered to blend into their surroundings….the ancestors who survived and bred are the ones who noticed the threat. So where the birds ability to see a bunch of fruit may be an obvious plus for them, the ability to see the slight amount of blue, or red or whatever that is off between the bark and the snake is far more likely an influence on the animals survival.