In equals(): Test for identity even before calling assert_ref() on the

argument.

modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm

@@ -418,13 +418,13 @@ sub slice {
 sub equals {
   my ( $self, $feature ) = @_;
 
-  assert_ref( $feature, 'Bio::EnsEMBL::Feature' );
-
   # If the features are the same object, they are equal.
   if ( $self eq $feature ) {
     return 1;
   }
 
+  assert_ref( $feature, 'Bio::EnsEMBL::Feature' );
+
   # If the features have different types, they are *not* equal.
   if ( ref($self) ne ref($feature) ) {
     return 0;