This spiny mouse was described from central Peru. Its description notes two-toned ventral fur with gray bases, and the authors associate the species with tropical premontane forest.
The ventral fur is described as two-toned with gray bases. A figure in the paper shows a specimen with bicolored ventral fur.
The authors state that within the N. minutus species complex, this is the only species occurring in tropical premontane forest; the other members occur in tropical lowland forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.