The latest is that even evolutionists are reconsidering this concept. There was an article linking in a evo/ID thread several weeks ago.
That's funny, I read somewhere giant letters had appeared in the sky spelling out 'Genesis: it's allegory, fools!'
Can't remember where I read that, either.
You have misunderstood. The data stand, with only an occasional possible exception. There are dozens, probably hundreds of similar examples, especially among plants where regional differences tend to multiply more easily. Not all are rings, some are clinal.
Odds are that the source was a creative interpretation by literal creationists.