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Like with this question, I'm looking for common or barnyard animals attested in the Classical period, but Late Latin or early Medieval Latin that has a good case of going back to the Classical period would suffice.

I do know two that went back to Greek (ictis and ibis, the former probably sufficing), but I'm hoping for more examples.

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  • Do you prefer original Latin names rather than Greek names adopted in Latin?
    – Rafael
    May 11, 2017 at 12:16
  • @Rafael That would be preferable, but I'll take common but from Greek over rare but native Latin if it came down to it. Thanks for looking so far!
    – cmw ♦
    May 11, 2017 at 13:52

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[so far, up to entry group 8 of around 70 in L&S, currently in 'im-' in alphabetical order. Most of letter i- is made of in-, which is dominated by in- and inter- prefixed words less likely to be animals]

Arguably common animals starting with i-:

  • ibex, -icis, m. a kind of goat, the chamois.
  • ictis, -idis, f. a kind of weasel. From Greek.

Other (non-barnyard animals or near misses)

(this list will probably be deleted if the previous gets large enough)

  • ibis, -is & -idis (irregular declension), f. the ibis, a bird held sacred by the Egyptians. From Greek.
  • ichneumon, -onis, m. Egyptian rat - wild. Also the name of an insect. From Greek.
  • ichthyŏcolla, -ae, f. A kind of sturgeon, the huso. From Greek.
  • icterus, -i, m. A yellow bird, seemingly a hapax legomenon. From Greek.
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