"If I descended from an ape, how come apes are still here?"

I think what you meant to say was that you yourself have no idea what happened in the past, and you cling to your ignorance so that you can imagine it's possible that the bible stories are true. What you are experiencing is called cognitive dissonance. You know that science tells us things that show not all the bible stories can be true, so you are searching for some straw to grasp that will let you save both science and the bible.On some level, this is a good thing. It means you may not be willing to just throw science away completely. Thus, you seek a way, any way, to try to reconcile science with all the bible stories. If you keep looking, you will find that this cannot be done. You will then be faced with a choice; which to believe, the bible or science. So why don't we just cut to the chase. Since science shows that the bible stories cannot all be true, which one will you discard, science or the bible stories?I don't expect you to answer this question now. I don't think you are ready to yet. I'm just giving you a hint of what lies down the road, getting your mind prepared to face the inevitable. If you decide you don't want to face this question, you need to stop looking in the direction you are going. This question is at the end of the road you are on now, and cannot be avoided except through deliberate refusal to accept facts laid plainly before you. And if all you are going to do is refuse to accept facts, there's really no reason to keep searching for them, is there?

You've heard the phrase, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing?" Big Al is playing it as safe as possible and avoiding all knowledge.

Do you have any evidence that actual paleontologists are ignoring these things, or is this just your latest straw to grasp at in an attempt to not face known facts?

So in other words, you're just here to vomit baseless ideas into the wind and ignore actual evidence that people present you with. You're a run of the mill creo bible-thumper, nothing new here.

Doubtful. You're doing anything meaningful here. Not even anything original.

That you missed anything is hardly news or noteworthy.