Not All Individuals In A Species Are Identical

Buddy Baker (Animal Man) can draw on the abilities of any animal, right? What would happen if he tried to borrow the abilities of a human being?

I ask because I read a review of the first issue of his new series that mentioned he borrowed a cat's abilities when he was tired so he could fall asleep quickly. That's rather clever, and it isn't what I'd think of if you said "powers of a cat". Somehow, that looped around in my brain to wondering what Buddy could gain from his own species.

Would it not work at all because Buddy's already has a human being's abilities to start with? Or would it double his strength, speed, intelligence, having the capability of another person, in addition to his own? The best idea I have is it might be a way for him to gain certain skills he doesn't have. Say Buddy needs to fix his lawnmower, but isn't particularly mechanically inclined. Would adopting the abilities of humans give him greater understanding of mechanical principles? Or things like math and poetry. Some people seem to have natural aptitudes for those things, others can become proficient through hard work, and some people are just hopeless. I don't have much of a gift for poetry, myself.

Still, the capability is apparently there in the species, so perhaps Buddy could gain it in an area he lacks.