This horseshoe bat is recorded in arid savanna, scrub and desert in southwestern Africa. It is nocturnal and roosts in caves and abandoned mines.
Its back is grey, brownish grey or greyish brown, with a paler underside. Ears are short, and wing and tail membranes are translucent grey to black.
It is nocturnal and mainly roosts in caves; it has also been found in abandoned mine shafts.
A 2013 morphometric comparison found the sampled western R. d. damarensis lineage slightly larger in forearm and skull length than the eastern R. d. darlingi lineage.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.