"Juravenator" was originally classified as a member of the Compsognathidae, making it a close relative of "Compsognathus", which preserved evidence of scales on the tail of one specimen, but also of "Sinosauropteryx" and "Sinocalliopteryx", for which there is fossil evidence of a downy, feather-like covering. However, a patch of fossilized "Juravenator" skin (from the tail, between the eighth and twenty-second vertebra, and lower hind leg) shows primarily normal dinosaur scales, as well as traces of what may be simple feathers. Paleontologist Xu Xing, in his comments on the find in the journal "Nature", initially suggested that the presence of scales on the tail of "Juravenator" could mean that the feather coat of early feathered dinosaurs was more variable than seen in modern birds. Xu also questioned the interpretation of "Juravenator" as a compsognathid, suggesting the extensive scaly hide could be a primitive trait. Xu considered it most likely that "Juravenator" and other primitive feathered dinosaurs simply possessed more extensive scales on their bodies than modern birds, which retain scales only on the feet and lower legs.