This month’s cover image shows an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying across the badlands of the Oligocene‐aged White River Group of Wyoming, USA (~30 million years old) to verify potential fossils identified autonomously by the UAV the night before. Fossil candidates can now be searched out using fluorescence signatures detected by a laser‐scanning system onboard an autonomous UAV that scans the ground for fossils at night. The new system is detailed by Kaye and Pittman in this issue and promises to improve how efficiently fossils are discovered in the field. The system also has strong potential for broader application in other areas of ecology and evolution through the identification of other mineral, rock and biological targets.

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封面图片和发行信息

本月的封面图片显示了无人驾驶飞机（UAV或无人机）飞越美国怀俄明州渐新世年龄的怀特河集团（约3000万年前）的荒地，以验证前一天晚上无人机自动识别的潜在化石。现在，可以使用自主无人机上的激光扫描系统检测到的荧光特征来搜索化石候选物，该无人机在夜间扫描地面上的化石。Kaye和Pittman在本期中详细介绍了该新系统，并有望改善在该领域发现化石的效率。通过识别其他矿物，岩石和生物目标，该系统还具有在其他生态学和进化领域中广泛应用的强大潜力。