Claim: A fern has over 10,000 known species and first appeared 360 million years ago and one of them is the Nephrolepis exaltata in the Plantae kingdom and Polypodiopsida class.
Evidence: The group includes about 10,560 known extant species. Ferns first appear in the fossil record about 360 million years ago in the middle Devonian period, but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. Many ferns are grown in horticulture as landscape plants, for cut foliage and as houseplants, especially the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) and other members of the genus Nephrolepis. Kingdom: Plantae Class: Polypodiopsida