Cretaceous-Cenozoic record of ferns in Africa

GARCÍA MASSINI, J.L., JACOBS, B. F.

Proceedings 18th Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa (AETFAT).

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Lugar: Kew, Reino Unido; Año: 2010; p. 203 - 221

The Cretaceous-Cenozoic record of ferns in Africa is reviewed and the distribution of families in northern, equatorial, and southern regions indicated. Their paleo-environmental indicator value is assessed based on comparison to modern closest relatives and evaluated in the context of climatic interpretations for the Cretaceous-Cenozoic interval. Results indicate that during the Cretaceous-Cenozoic interval African ferns were qualitatively less diverse than in other continents. Diversity of fern families during the Early Cretaceous is comparable to other world basins, but, except for heterosporous ferns which were common throughout the entire period, decreased during the mid- to Late Cretaceous. Ferns were poorly represented during the Cenozoic, although a few better surveyed Cenozoic deposits show comparable diversity and abundance to assemblages of similar age outside of Africa. Neogene ferns are known only from a few fossil localities representing moist lowland to upland forest, consistent with their modern distribution in high diversity centers.