Experts to check remains uncovered during road building excavations close to Tit-Ary in Khangalassky district.

The remnants of the ancient creature was found in melting permafrost, revealed Varvara Kuzmina, head of the local school lore museum.

'Locals found it by accident - the smell was strong,' she said. 'It was in spring when snow was melting' - although news of the find has only been reported now.  

One theory is that the bones could be those of an extinct woolly rhinoceros, preserved for tens of thousands of years in permafrost. 

However, there is no confirmation as yet. 

The find of skull and rib parts was made close to the village in an area called Kyra-Khatyn. 

Local schoolchildren took an active part in the excavations, said the museum head. 

The discovery follows a recent find in Yakutia - also known as the Sakha Republic - of suspected steppe mammoth tusks by a man digging his potato patch.