Based on the Vine-Matthews hypothesis, dozens of magnetic reversal time scales have been constructed over the past 50 years, covering the Cenozoic and part of the Mesozoic eras. Using these time scales, marine magnetic anomalies have been identified, the grids of ocean floor ages have been constructed, and plate rotation parameters have been estimated from reconstructions of the edges of magnetic isochrons. Here, we study how the choice of a geomagnetic time scale influences geochronological and geohistorical interpretations of magnetic anomalies using well-mapped marine magnetic anomalies from the Indian Ocean. For the analysis, 15 of the most widely used Cenozoic time scales were chosen. For chrons C1–C5 and C23–C26, we quantify the degree of influence of the reversal time scales on the geohistorical and kinematic analysis.