The mythological beast of JBA is so interpreted by Rashi and others, however it has recently been argued that it is probably a misunderstood Iranian name inasmuch as so many of these talmudic stories have an Iranian background: see Reuven Kiperwasser and Dan D. Y. Shapira, "Irano-Talmudica I: The Three-legged Ass and
RIDY in B. Ta‘anith: Some Observations About Mythic Hydrology in the Babylonian Talmud and in Ancient Iran", AJS Review 32(2008): 101ff.