Engineers love their animal metaphors, and I am no exception. The quickest way to get me to read about a new technology is to claim it’s based on how some sort of obscure creature gathers stones. However I have always thought there is a distinct hierarchy to the animals of tech: actually useful things are based on bugs, slugs, and other such slimy organisms, while anything that references a large charismatic predator like a tiger or a shark is almost certainly a scam (these are also the favourite animals of venture capitalists, naturally)