If man's closest relative is the ape, how come the human brain is so far advanced beyond the apes. Consider what man can do with his intelligence compared to apes which do little more than swing from trees eating bananas. Just because I like bananas too, doesn't mean I evolved from apes.
Where are the animals that should be filling the gap between modern-day apes and man? (And liberals don't count!)
We didn't evolve from modern day apes. Rather, we share a common ancestor with modern day apes. After that common ancestor, our species' went in separate directions.
The non-human great ape brain isn't all that different from a human's brain. It is more of degree than stark difference. You'll find that there are chimps and gorillas that have comparable IQs to some humans. The reason they haven't accomplished as much as we have is we took over that niche and they never evolved a fully upright stance.
"Where are the animals that should be filling the gap between modern-day apes and man?"
The extant hominins are the remnants of a much larger family that has mostly died out. Before we and our relatives appeared the great apes (hominins) just about disappeared.