This arboreal rodent is known from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. In the 2017 species account, the known evidence comprised two museum specimens and one photographic record.
It has long, soft fur and a crest of long hair on the crown between the ears. The back is deep rufous, while the sides, head, and nose are paler yellowish orange.
One observation in 2011 recorded an animal active in humid cloud forest between 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. That single record does not establish the species’ full activity schedule.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.