I mean, if you go back far enough we all probably originated from the same little piece of protein/carbon rich amoeba or space dust. But once we reach a greater level of specificity, do we need to assume that all mammals, for example, are linked by a common ancestor? Or do we look for the missing link between new world monkeys & old world monkeys, distinguished by one having a prehensile tail and the other not (I always forget which is which -- I think it's old world monkeys that use their tails)?

It makes more sense to me to believe that numerous different species evolved along similar lines, coming from different origins, and some worked and some didn't. The ones that didn't died out, the ones that did keep evolving. Presumably, new species should be coming along as well.

Besides, even if we were to decide that primates broke off from original life forms or from mammals as a separate branch in a single bunch, and then evolved from there to the large crowd of differentiated primates today, that still does not agree with the premise that any "race" (I use the word advisedly and only as a convenience) of humans is a missing link to apes.

Peace.