This New Guinea mountain rat is represented in a 1997 Mt. Dayman survey by one captured adult male, whose coat and tail were described in detail.
The one male was described as having coarse, grizzled fur and white mottling on the underside of the tail. Its tail scales were conspicuous, and its skull and rostrum were longer than those of the compared S. niobe specimens.
The Mt. Dayman survey caught one adult male on the forest floor. The burgundy stain on its chest and forelimbs was thought to indicate recent contact with fruit from an unidentified plant, but this was not confirmed as food.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.