(CNN) Scientists studying the remarkably well-preserved remains of an Ice Age bird have identified the specimen as a horned lark.

Buried and frozen in permafrost near the village of Belaya Gora in north-eastern Siberia , the bird was discovered by local fossil ivory hunters, who passed it on to a team of experts, including Nicolas Dussex and Love Dalén from the Swedish Museum of Natural History, for testing.

Radiocarbon dating revealed the bird lived around 46,000 years ago, and genetic analysis identified it as a horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), according to a paper published Friday in the journal Communications Biology.

Dalén told CNN that research showed the bird may be an ancestor to two subspecies of lark alive today, one in northern Russia and the other on the Mongolian steppe.

"This finding implies that the climatic changes that took place at the end of the last Ice Age led to formation of new subspecies," he said.

The bird was found in north-eastern Siberia at a site which also contained other frozen specimens.

Read More