Humans are superior to Animals

Before I begin I would like to point out that as he is the affirmative and the topic is his invention, he bears the burden of proof. My argument is simple. Humans are not superior to animals for a few very simple reasons. But before I go into that allow me to define the terms of the debate. Animal- a living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli.1 Superior- Of higher standard or quality2 Humans are organisms, we are incredibly complex arrangements of cells that have evolved and built up over time to form the one 'being' that we are today. We feed on organic matter, with other animals and various plant varieties forming our diet. We also have specialized organs that allow us to see, hear, touch and a brain that has evolved with the ability to rapidly respond to stimuli through chemical change. Therefore it should be clear to anyone that Humans are animals. They fit the entirety of the definition of what makes an animal, it is only in the last few millennia ( a negligible period of time in the history of the earth) that humans have made themselves distinguishable from the living patterns of other animals. However, we are not as distinguished as we might first appear. We still make shelters, very good ones, but the ability to create sturdy shelter doesn't place us above even the bower bird in survival skills, they design their nests to attract mates, arranging things in a very beautiful way3. The development of farming has long been considered one of humanities greatest inventions and the reason for humans abandoning hunter gathering and moving to a more 'civilized'(for lack of a better word) society. However there is a species of ant in Southern and Central America that composts a fungus, which is there only food source4. The ants have been at this for about 50 million years, whereas humans only invented farming about 10,000 years ago. This means that the ants have laid down their basis for their society a great deal of time before humans, does this make the ants superior? The fact is that it is a fallacy in the human mind to consider us separate from the natural world. No matter how much we build up the walls around us, we are still just engaging in a more complex form, (that is by no means better) of what the bower bird does. However much we irrigate and computerize our farming systems we are still working off the same principals developed by ants 50 Million years before we even thought of containing the food we eat. When we truly look at the facts of the matter it is clear that humans are just an animal like any other, therefore the debate topic (which opponent came up with(he posted it on another debate) actually reads 'An Animal is superior to Animals'. Clearly this makes no sense, how can something be superior to itself? I would ask the reader to note that the topic makes no mention of 'other Animals'. The Pro never considered that humans were animals in proposing and accepting this debate. I will leave my argument there now, I look forward to his response. 1-Oxford Dictionary 2-Oxford Dictionary 3-. http://www.youtube.com... it's the video in the top right. 4-. http://www.the-scientist.com...