There is literally no source calling the Cyndaquil line an echidna nor a badger, an anteater, a weasel, or anything you denialfags seem to think they are. They're not called so in the Pokedex. It's not a part of their names in any language. Not for any of them.

You know what animals do come up? Mouse, rat, rodent, porcupine, and hedgehog (called "needle rat" in japanese).
>but it looks more like an echidna and nothing like a rat
Cyndaquil has the same body type as a rat (see pic related for comparison) including the long nose that characterizes rats instead of the beak that characterizes echidnas (it's like you denialfags don't even know what an echidna is).