I really don't want to get too involved in this discussion because I'm certainly not sufficiently well informed to be able to hold my own, but I do want to note that the idea of a missing link between apes & humans is a little goofy. Presumably both apes and humans have been evolving all this time. Right? So there should not be a link between the two -- they're separate species that have evolved along separate paths. It's not inconsistent to believe that (modern) human beings evolved from (ancient) primates and (modern) primates evolved from (ancient) primates. And that does not require that human beings and modern primates came from a common ancestor.
Peace.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha