[nmh]

You: Be a dog. Be a rat.
Now you're just being silly... They aren't even in the same ~genus~ we are.
"

Me: To suggest that human beings are animals is just as preposterous but again, be an animal. Take your pick. Wait, I know ... a CHIMP or an APE would suit you much better and it would fit into your ridiculous evolutionary hypothesis.

In any event, be whatever animal you'd like to be. Forget genes. If you were seriously concerned about genes you wouldn't think of yourself, a human being as BEING AN ANIMAL! LOL! Thanks for the laugh.

[HairOfTheDog]

If you weren't so paranoid about your place in the world you'd have a better ability to understand and appreciate similarities and differences within the animal kingdom. Concepts such as family, genus and species don't make you less ~human~. They ~ARE~ what defines you as ~human~.

You're either an animal, a mineral, or a plant. You can guess wrong, but that won't change the truth.