A few times in anime, dinosaurs will be referred to as dragons. Naruto's recent Sasuke Uchiha spin-off has the Leaf ninja battling dinosaurs, but he consistently calls them ancient dragons, and no one calls him out on it. In One Piece, Devil Fruits that turn people into dinosaurs are classified as offshoots of the Dragon-Dragon Fruit. Even certain Pokémon species based on dinosaurs like Aerodactyl and the Tyrunt line have been treated as dragons, even if they don't have the Dragon typing. This isn't as big of a coincidence as it seems.
The classification of dinosaurs as dragons finds its origins in East Asian culture. Even the Japanese word for "dinosaur," Kyōryū (恐竜), uses the kanji for dragon (竜, ryū). However, it's important to look even further back at ancient China to get to the bottom of this.
Where Did the Idea of Dinosaurs Being Dragons Come From?
"Dragon bones" being unearthed in China have been recorded as far back as 350 CE. However, without any detailed descriptions or modern means of categorization, there was no way to tell what bones were being unearthed, let alone whether they belonged to dinosaurs; "dragon bones" was more of a catch-all term for anything from shells to teeth to horns. In these regards, the link between dinosaur bones and dragon bones is mainly speculation.
That said, some of the dragon bones that were dug up could still be classified as belonging to dinosaurs. Many of the bones that were dug up were sold as pharmaceuticals in Chinese communities around the world, including in Japan and the United States; they were believed to cure all sorts of ailments from fever to disembowelment, so they were ground up and used as medicine. Some of these bones exported to the West were eventually picked up by museums and recognized as fossilized remains by paleontologists. At the very least, this suggests that some of the dragon bones dug up must have also belonged to dinosaurs.
As for whether the dinosaurs in anime like Naruto and One Piece are supposed to be dragons, they very well could be. Since nothing about fantasy settings or even fictional worlds, in general, is obligated to adhere to real-world origins, bold claims like dinosaurs being ancient dragons can be made and they'd probably be true. The more fantastical the setting, the more ideas like dinosaurs being dragons can be played with.
In any case, this unique blend of fiction and reality is what makes it prime for anime. As the medium goes on, more examples of dinosaurs being called dragons will continue to pop up. If people can keep referring to dinosaur bones as dragon bones even in the modern era, the same thing can happen in anime.
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