Do you ever doubt your atheism?

[LostLocke]

The functionality of a being's consciousness is directly proportional to the size of their brain, and the components making up that brain.
We are superior to most animals because we have developed the frontal cortex(?) which is responsible for such things as planning ahead, short term memory/working memory and other things most animals don't seem to possess.

You might want to rethink that.
Many "higher" animals (mammals and larger birds) have these functions fully formed. Not to the extent humans do, but there's no doubt they do have them.