The document summarizes various plant and animal species found in Humboldt County, California, specifically in Fern Canyon and along Arcata's coastline, including Roosevelt elk, coastal redwoods, ferns, and different types of sedimentary rocks. It discusses the evolution and key characteristics of each species. For example, it notes that Roosevelt elk are the second largest animal in the deer family, coastal redwoods can live over 2,000 years, and ferns first developed complex branching millions of years ago. The document also examines sedimentary rocks like siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate, and phosphorite found in the area.

1. Humboldt, CA Nicole Moore

2. Humboldt County, CA
 Three weeks ago, I visited my boyfriend’s
hometown of Arcata, CA, which is
located in Humboldt County.
 Despite its rampant hippy culture,
Humboldt is best known from its beautiful
and lush environment.
 Species of plants and animals seen in this
presentation are from Fern Canyon and
Arcata’s coastline.

3. Roosevelt Elk

4. Roosevelt Elk
 Part of the deer family
 Second largest animal of the deer family
 Only a few hundred left
 Active during the colder hours of the day
 Males weigh 740-1100 pounds and females weigh
380-640 pounds.
 Males (bulls) have antlers, females (cows) do not.
 Autumn is their breeding season.
 Live in dense coastal brush
 Diet consists of grassy clearings
(Roosevelt Elk)

5. Evolution of Roosevelt Elk
“Kingdom- Animalia, Phylum- Chordata, Class- Mammalia, Order- Artiodactyla, Family-
Cervidae, Genus- Cervus, Species: Canadensis” (Hanson)
 They began to evolve about 400,000 years ago during the Cenozoic Era.
 Elks are closely related to Moose and deer.
 There has been transitional fossils found
 These fossils from Brush Antlered Deer.
 It should be noted Elk’s have stronger bones, but weaker antlers than the Brush
Antlered Deer.
 The traits seen in the modern day Roosevelt Elk were adopted and developed
through natural selection.
 The ancestors of the Roosevelt Elk had shorter tails.
 The reason for this, is their tails are a vestigial structure, and therefore, are not
needed, like they once were for their ancestors.
 The embryos of Roosevelt Elk and Deer are very similar and only have slight
differences.
(Hanson, Jessica)

6. Coastal Redwoods

7. Coastal Redwoods
 Sequoia sempervirens
 Lifespan: 2,000 years
 Height: 373 feet
 Located on the coast of Northern
California and Southern Oregon.
 Named after the color of its bark
 Arranged in circular formations called
“Fairy Rings”
(Guynup, Sharon)

8. Evolution of Coastal
Redwoods
 DNAs shows the Coastal Redwood is a hexaploid, meaning there is
six sets of chromosomes in each of its cells
 While this trait is not uncommon in plants, it is in trees.
 In fact, most other types of redwoods are diploids.
 The genes of the Coastal Redwood most resemble lawn grass.
 Being a hexaploid maybe the reason the Coastal Redwoods have
such a long lifespan.
 This would also explain as to why, while this species of tree is one of
the oldest, it appears to be virtually immune to disease.
 There has been arguments throughout the scientific community
over whether the Coastal redwood emerged as a hexaploid during
“Paleocene epoch (65 to 54 million years ago), or he Eocene
epoch (54 to 38 million years ago)”
(Guynup, Sharon)

9. Wall of Fern

10. Wall of Fern
 Fun fact: This was the location of Jurassic
Park II
 Located in a 50-80 feet canyon
 There are five different types of Fern on
the vertical walls of this canyon
 Water is constantly dipping off the fern
walls
(Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods SP)

11. Evolution of Fern
 An early fernlike plant was the Rhacophyton condrusorum.
 The fossils of the Rhacophyton condrusorum were found in
Belgium.
 The evolution of ferns began with their complex branching
and webbing, which had not been seen in their ancestors.
 In 1930, Zimmerman presented a theory which was called
planation.
 Essentially, this states the branching on ferns helps the
plants capture more light and that the fern’s webbing
connects the cell tissue.
 Modern day ferns began to appear at the end of the
Devonian (340 million years ago).
(Where do the ferns come from?)

12. Silt and Sandstone

13. Silt and Sandstone
 Along the steams and rivers located in Humboldt's
Fern Canyon, there are various smooth, medium-
sized, glossy rocks. Due to the fact these rocks
were found near and on the riverbed, most likely
they were made up of compressed sand and
pebbles. Therefore, these rocks found in Fern
Canyon can probably be best classified as a
clastic sedimentary rocks. Due to the smooth
texture and the fact the these rocks were found in
the stilt and sand, I believe the rocks I
encountered at Fern Canyon consisted of both silt
and sandstone.
 (Clastic Sedimentary Rocks)

14. Conglomerate Rocks

15. Conglomerate Rocks
 Furthermore, I went to the beach in
Humboldt and encounter rocks beside
the tide pools. I would also classify these
rocks as clastic sedimentary rocks, so they
were also more than likely made out of
compressed sand and parts of other
rocks. However, due to the rock's rough,
sharp surface, I would say these rocks are
conglomerates. (Clastic Sedimentary
Rocks)

16. Phosphorite Rocks

17. Phosphorite
 These rocks were located on along Arcata’s
coastline. Like the conglomerate rocks, these
were also very close to the tide pool. Due to
the surface of the rock which was rough and
showed the material of what appeared to be
other rocks, pebbles, phosphate material, as
well as what my naked eye looked like dead
sea life, I would classify this rock as a
sediment, phosphorite.
(Rock Types)

18. The Principle of Inclusions
 Due to the fact all of the rocks I have observed
appeared to be sedimentary, one can assume
that they are made up of other, older, condensed
rock.
 The Principle of Inclusion states that the rock
formations (or inclusions) are older than the rock
that contains them.
 Therefore, pieces of other rock that can be
viewed in the sedimentary rocks, are in fact older
than the rock, itself.
(Principle of Inclusions)

19. Angular Unconformities
 Additionally, due to the fact all the rocks provided
as examples appear to be sedimentary, it would
be likely that angular unconformities would be
found near these rocks.
 Angular Unconformities occur when horizontal
layers of sedimentary rock lay on the tilted layers
of sedimentary rock.
(Unconformity-Angular Unconformities,
Disconformity, Nonconformities, An Ongoing
Process)

20. Work Cited
 Clastic Sedimentary Rocks. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2015.
 Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods SP. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2015, from
http://www.redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=476
 Guynup, S. (n.d.). The Redwood Genome. Retrieved July 21, 2015, from
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/08_00/redwood_genome.shtm
 Hanson, Jessica. "Elk Evolution Project." Web. July 30, 2015. <https://www.storehouse.co/stories/y9tg-
elk-evolution-project>.
 Principle of Inclusions. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2015, from http://www.sandatlas.org/principle-of-
inclusions/
 Rock Types. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2015, from http://www.sandatlas.org/rock-types/
 Roosevelt Elk. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2015, from http://www.redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=481
 Unconformity-Angular Unconformities, Disconformity, Nonconformities, An Ongoing Process. (n.d.). .
Retrieved July 30, 2015, from http://science.jrank.org/pages/7092/Unconformity.html
 Where do the ferns come from? (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2015, from
http://steurh.home.xs4all.nl/engevovar/eevovar.html