This spiny tree-rat is known from two sites in southeastern Brazil. Records describe it in evergreen broadleaf forest and selectively logged mature forest, where traps set above ground on branches or lianas caught specimens.
The holotype had orange-and-black dorsal fur, with especially orange fur on the neck and thighs. Conspicuous spines extended from neck to tail.
The account records it in second-growth broadleaf evergreen rainforest with dense understory and in selectively logged mature forest. Both known specimens were trapped on limbs or lianas about 1–1.5 m above the ground.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.