I believe that the question is actually backwards. Our culture doesn't distinguish us from animals as much as the fact that we simple are different than animals, and it effects our culture. Think about the simplicity of our thumbs. A simple difference than most other animals, yet without our thumbs, how would be pick things up? How would we eat, or hold a pencil? If we didn't have thumbs, would we still have etiquette? It's the small differences that make us human, that makes our cultures. Think of the small differences of people from other countries. Their culture is mostly based around where they live, and the things that their land has supplied for them through the centuries. It's the same concept.