Final answer:
The first type of plant to reappear on Earth after the asteroid that ended the Cretaceous period was the fern, supported by an increase in fern spores reflected in the fossil records.
Therefore, the correct answer is: option 'ferns'.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula some 66 million years ago, marking the end of the Cretaceous period and leading to the mass extinction of dinosaurs, the first type of plant to come back on Earth was the fern.
This recovery is evidenced by fossil records, which show a notable increase in fern spores following mass extinctions, a phenomenon also seen after volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa and Mt. St. Helens.
Ferns experienced what's known as the "great fern radiation" during the late-Cretaceous, resulting in the emergence of many modern families of ferns.
They were among the first plants to reappear and dominate the landscape after the catastrophic events, thanks to their ability to thrive in the disrupted environments that resulted from such cataclysms.