>>35281570Image posted is what Eevee was derived from.
Its creation was a homage to Studio Ghibli's Fox Squirrel or Kitsunerisu (キツネリス ).
The fox squirrel was based on the fennec fox, and was created by Hayao Miyazaki in 1984 in his movie "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". He is said to be the eastern equivalent of Walt Disney.
Source (In Japanese):
http://ghibli.jpn.org/report/nausica-matome/ Extrapolating from this information it is a given that Eevee is also based on a fennec (or at least a canid).
