I'm sorry but, just from the Title of your post - I have to disagree, 100%. I can not ever remember an animal learning to perform brain surgery, cure somebody of cancer, give someone a heart & lung transplant, or pick up a set of tools - to manufacture another set of tools - which can build something in an automated fashion.
I can't remember the last time a donkey, horse, ox, or mule - rode on a man. There is a fundamental difference between man & animal - it is called, DOMINION.
Yes, some animals are very smart, clever, and do complex tasks & have the ability to learn. And, yes, some human beings are amazingly dim-witted. But, on the average, you don't see another species having as large of an impact on our planet as human beings. Sure, you may be a tree-hugger and say that humans are just killing the planet, so the species as a whole is just stupid. Well, if that's your opinion - please do us all a favor and leave the planet now, since you're draining the resources for the rest of us. Thanks! :D
You need to read the rest of the article. you can't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree
But, I can evaluate another persons' ability to make value judgements.
Human life is more valuable than animal life, because we are more intelligent. It's that simple.
You can muddle the issue of intelligence by changing the measuring stick - by saying that a polar bear is better than a man because it has a far superior sense of smell and could beat a man in a contest of physical strength. Thing is, a polar bear doesn't know it's better - it just knows that it is hungry, and it's going to try and eat everything that it can. It is driven by its' animal instincts and, in many cases, it is not even able to make a different choice than to follow its' natural instincts.
Humans are able, with some self-discipline, to resist instincts and to make different choices, based on weighing a vast number of possible outcomes and value-judgements. It is called CONSCIOUSNESS. Self-awareness. A human can reform the very makeup of their character, through conscious effort, thought, and behavior. A criminal can become compassionate. A dimwit can become wise. Any you, my friend, can learn.
Humans are the most adaptable species, across a wider range of environmental conditions, than any other animal. Through the development of technology, we have adapted to survive in the ocean depths, on the edge of a volcano, in the vacuum of space, at the extreme arctic poles, and in the deserts on the equator. No animal really even comes close - unless it's an unconscious spore of some kind.
It is a mistake in reasoning ability to reduce humans to the level and/or importance of animals. We are animal, but we are also much more.