Hi crocdoc2,
sorry, I didn`t make myself clear, I wasn`t suggesting I thought they were at the "top" of reptile evolution because of intelligence, but because of all their adaptations together... (I won`t list them, and you certainly know what those are).
I don`t believe I`m the only keeper who finds them in many ways totally different to most other captive reptiles, especially in view of their clear responsiveness to their captors (in many cases at least, here in captivity), and their "awareness" of the world around them, for want of a better description.
Not too sure why you consider that`s a "victorian" outlook?