 In 2001 , paleontologist Phil Currie reported skin impressions from the holotype specimen of G. libratus . He originally reported the skin as being essentially smooth and lacking the scales found in other dinosaurs , similar to the secondarily featherless skin found in large modern birds . Scales of some sort were present in this specimen , but they are reportedly widely dispersed from each other and very small . Other patches of isolated Gorgosaurus skin shows denser , and larger though still relatively fine scales ( smaller than hadrosaurid scales and approximately as fine as a Gila monster 's ) . Neither of these specimens was associated with any particular bone or specific body area . In the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs Kenneth Carpenter pointed out that traces of skin impressions from the tail of Gorgosaurus showed similar small rounded or hexagonal scales . 
