The only example that comes to my mind is the short story “Sshhh...” by David Brin. And that’s not really the same thing, since the entire point of the story is that it’s ambiguous whether humans really do have anything special about them.
The Humans are Special trope here gives a lot of examples of this. Reputedly, it was a premise that John Campbell, editor of Amazing Stories, was very fond of, accounting for its prevalence.
The only example that comes to my mind is the short story “Sshhh...” by David Brin. And that’s not really the same thing, since the entire point of the story is that it’s ambiguous whether humans really do have anything special about them.
The Humans are Special trope here gives a lot of examples of this. Reputedly, it was a premise that John Campbell, editor of Amazing Stories, was very fond of, accounting for its prevalence.