Testing taxonomic and biogeographical relationships in a narrow Mediterranean endemic complex (Hippocrepis balearica) using RAPD markers.

Analyses of RAPD profiles from 17 populations of the Hippocrepis balearica complex revealed a highly structured geographic pattern, not only among continental-insular areas but also within the eastern Balearic islands. In marked contrast to previous morphometric results, a clear separation between continental and insular samples was found, and intermediates between H. balearica and H. valentina samples were not detected. Molecular data indicated that western and eastern Balearic populations of the complex (H. grosii and H. balearica) were more closely related to each other than to continental populations (H. valentina). Multivariate analyses of the RAPD data clearly indicated that the similarities between continental and eastern Balearic samples of the H. balearica complex recovered by morphometric methods are due either to parallel evolution or to retention of plesiomorphic features.