Figure 1.

Values of ${(Q_{N_x})}_{i,1}$ (written as ${\text{per}}_{N_x}$), the expected number of generations a site heteroplasmy persists, and of ${\text{obs}}_{N_x}(0.23)$, the expected number of generations the site heteroplasmy are observable with threshold θ=0.23 (plotted on a logarithmic scale). Note that ${\text{obs}}_{N_x}(\theta )$ converges to the constant value 2 ln(θ⁻¹−1)=2.417 (dotted line), while ${\text{per}}_{N_x}$ (solid line) grows logarithmically as N_x increases.