serval
‘a long-legged wildcat having a tawny coat with black spots and large erect ears without tufts’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
Mod.Lat. serval < F. serval < Port. (lobo) cerval ‘lynx’ < Lat. lupus cervarius ‘lynx’ < cervarius ‘pertaining to a stag’ < cervus ‘stag’ < ker-wo- ‘having thorns’ < suh < ker- < Tamil kaṭu