higher animals 
plural noun
Animals of relatively advanced or developed characteristics, such as mammals and other vertebrates: it is a universal characteristic of higher animals that they senesce...
- Development of microbial populations in the alimentary tract of higher animals commences soon after birth.
- The emerging fact that higher animals share much of their DNA with humans was certainly influential.
- Nevertheless, all higher animals require vitamin C, and its function within organisms is always the same.