Would vision and audition be considered "higher senses” in non-human animals? Why or why not?

Not necessarily

Explanation:

There are animals in which vision and audition are more specialized than in humans, while in other species this relation fails. For example, in predatory birds, the vision clarity surpassing human eyesight, since this sense is required for effective prey capture. Conversely, in the European mole (Talpa europaea), which is a mammal that lives mostly underground, the vision is seriously short-sighted. These are clear examples that "the function makes the organ", ie., phenotypic features such as vision and audition are selected in the course of evolution depending on the fitness that they confer to the species in particular environmental conditions.