The Journal of Indian Botanical Society

Ferns are a resilient group with a long fossil record. They were constituents of early terrestrial plant ecosystems and significantly diversified during the Early Cretaceous times. Indian Early Cretaceous sedimentary basins hold important fern relics belongs to the Equisetaceae, Marattiaceae, Osmundaceae, Gleicheniaceae, Dipteridaceae, Matoniaceae, Schizaeaceae, Marsileaceae, Cyatheaceae, Dicksoniaceae, Pteridaceae, Aspleniaceae, Dennstaedtiaceae, Dryopteridaceae and a few more taxa with unknown affinity placed under the miscellaneous ferns. With about 25 species, the Osmundaceae shows greatest taxonomic diversity among all the families. The taxonomic composition and distribution pattern of these fern families largely differ from basin to basin. These discrepancies are attributed to their functional ecology and taphonomy. The maximum numbers of families are reported from the Rajmahal Basin. Coastal sedimentary basins comparatively represented low diversity and usually contain Equisetaceae, Osmundaceae, Gleicheniaceae and Matoniaceae. Comparison of the early Cretaceous ferns with the recent ones connotes little relation between the two. The study suggests that the bulk of recent ferns were evolved during the post Cretaceous period.