The Andean cottontail is known from Ecuador's highlands, and a 2022 study confirmed records at several sites in Peru. It has long, soft fur, a reddish rump, and a pale underside.
It is medium-sized, with long, soft, dusky fur. The forehead is brownish, the cheeks and sides of the neck ashy gray, and the back warm buff to clay-colored with black streaks. The rump and legs have a reddish wash; the chin and belly are whitish, and the tail is a small stump.
In one Ecuadorian páramo study, researchers recorded pellet presence or absence on slopes from 3,550 to 4,150 m. Pellets were found mainly below 4,000 m and on wind-sheltered slopes. These are local habitat findings based on pellets, not a population count.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.