Biography & Research
My research focuses on the ways in which species interact, and the consequences of these interactions on the evolutionary trajectories of populations. I am particularly interested in the coevolutionary interactions of avian brood parasites and their hosts, and the role of phenotypic plasticity in facilitating host-specific adaptations. My research is predominantly field-based, involving observation and experiments of behaviour and physiology, but I supplement this with genetic and genomic data. I am driven by a passion for natural history, which was instilled growing up on a farm in north-eastern South Africa.
I joined the African Cuckoos team in 2019 as an MSc student, based at the University of Cape Town, where my dissertation focussed on the rare phenomenon of perfect mimicry. To explore this, I investigated the near-perfect mimicry by African cuckoos of fork-tailed drongo eggs in the Miombo woodland of southern Zambia.
In 2021 I shifted my focus from cuckoos to honeyguides. I recently completed my PhD at the University of Cambridge, where I am investigated the mechanisms and ecological consequences of host specificity in honeyguides. Part of my PhD focussed on bringing together two distinct strings of greater honeyguide life history: their lives as brood parasites of bee-eaters, kingfishers, hoopoes and others; and their lives as mutualists with human honey-hunters. This fieldwork is split between Choma (Zambia), and the Niassa Special Reserve (Mozambique).
Despite moving to the UK for my PhD, I remain unashamedly biased towards African birdlife.
Publications
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Dixit, T., Liu, M., Riederer, J.M., Walker, J.M., Blair, C.J., Lund, J., Moya, C. & Spottiswoode, C.N., 2026. Categorical identity signatures can reduce host error rates during brood parasitism. PLoS Biology, 24(2), e3003667. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003667
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McClelland, S. C., Lund, J., Dixit, T., Hamama, S., McClean, L. A., Spottiswoode, C. N., White, C. R., Louder, M. I. M., Hauber, M. E., Honza, M., & Portugal, S. J. (2024). Highly virulent avian brood-parasitic species show elevated embryonic metabolic rates at specific incubation stages compared to less virulent and non-parasitic species. Biology Letters, 20(9), 20240411. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0411
- Dixit T, Lund J, Fulford AJC, Apostol AL, Chen K-C, Tong W, Feeney WE, Hamusikili L, Colebrook-Robjent JFR, Town CP, Spottiswoode CN. 2023. Chase-away evolution maintains imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite–host system despite rapid evolution of mimics. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02232-4
- Lund J, Dixit T, Attwood MC, Hamama S, Moya C, Stevens M, Jamie GA, Spottiswoode CN. 2023. When perfection isn’t enough: host egg signatures are an effective defence against high-fidelity African cuckoo mimicry. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 290: 20231125.
- Dixit T, Choi GPT, al-Mosleh S, Lund J, Troscianko J, Moya C, Mahadevan L. Spottiswoode CN. 2023. Combined measures of mimetic fidelity explain imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite–host system. Biology Letters. 19(2): 20220538.
- Attwood MC, Lund J, Nwaogu CJ, Moya C, Spottiswoode CN. 2023. Aggressive hosts are undeterred by a cuckoo’s hawk mimicry, but probably make good foster parents. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 290(1990): 20221506.
- Spottiswoode CN, Lund J, Lloyd-Jones DJ. 2023. Quick Guide: Honeyguides. Current Biology. 32(22): PR1072-R1074.
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Cram DL, van der Wal JEM, Uomini NT, Cantor M, Afan AI, Attwood MC, Amphaeris J, Balasani F, Blair CJ, Bronstein JL, Buanachique IO, Cuthill RRT, Das J, Daura-Jorge FG, Deb A, Dixit T, Dlamini GS, Dounias E, Gedi II, Gruber M, Hoffman LS, Holzlehner T, Isack HA, Laltaika AE, Lloyd-Jones DJ, Lund J, Machado AMS, Mahadevan L, Moreno IB, Nwaogu CJ, Pereira VL, Pierotti R, Rucunua SA, dos Santos WF, Serpa N, Smith BD, Sridhar H, Tolkova I, Tun T, Valle-Pereira JVS, Wood BM, Wrangham RW, Spottiswoode CN. 2022. The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation. People and Nature. 4(4): 841-855.
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van der Wal JEM, Spottiswoode CN, Uomini NT, Cantor M, Daura-Jorge FG, Afan AI, Attwood MC, Amphaeris J, Balasani F, Begg CM, Blair CJ, Bronstein JL, Buanachique IO, Cuthill RRT, Das J, Deb A, Dixit T, Dlamini GS, Dounias E, Gedi II, Gruber M, Hoffman LS, Holzlehner T, Isack HA, Laltaika AE, Lloyd-Jones DJ, Lund J, Machado AMS, Mahadevan L, Moreno IB, Nwaogu CJ, Pereira VL, Pierotti R, Rucunua SA, dos Santos WF, Serpa N, Smith BD, Tolkova I, Tun T, Valle-Pereira JVS, Wood BM, Wrangham RW, Cram DL. 2022 Safeguarding human-wildlife cooperation. Conservation Letters. 15(4): e12886.
- McClelland SC, Reynolds M, Cordall M, Hauber ME, Goymann W, McClean LA, Hamama S, Lund J, Dixit T, Louder MIM, Safari I, Honza M, Spottiswoode CN, Portugal SJ. 2021. Embryo movement is more frequent in avian brood parasites than birds with parental reproductive strategies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 288(196): 20211137.
- Lund J, Bolopo D, Thomson RL, Elliott DL, Arnot LF, Kemp R, Lowney AM, McKechnie AE. 2020. Winter thermoregulation in free-ranging pygmy falcons in the Kalahari Desert. Journal of Ornithology. 161: 549–555.