Discussion
In this study, we introduced a general statistical method for estimating
the nuclear proportion of DNA inserts of extranuclear origin. We
validated this method by re-estimating the nuclear proportion of NUMTs
in humans and then analysed data from the grasshopper P.
pedestris and the parrot P. varius . Because the grasshopper and
parrot datasets each contained individuals from two diverged
populations, we were able to obtain an additional estimate of NUMT
abundance. After discussing our results, we will address the robustness
and utility of our methods.