The montane shrew tenrec is recorded in mountain forests of northeastern Madagascar, at Anjanaharibe-Sud and Marojejy. Collection records span elevations of 1,225–1,950 m.
Its upperparts are dark brown with a gray tinge; the underside is brown with silver-gray and buff tones. It has large ears and a two-toned tail that may end in white.
The 1998 original account records the species in montane and upper-montane forest at 1,550–1,950 m, including wet valley bottoms, bamboo-dominated slopes, and ridge crests. At 1,550 m, one specimen was caught in a ground-set Sherman trap at the opening of a cavity among small-tree roots. A 2000 pitfall-trap table for Marojejy records 20 captures between 1,225 and 1,875 m.
The back is dark brown and the underside is slightly lighter. Its tail is longer than its head-and-body length; in the five measured specimens in the original description, the tail-to-head-and-body ratio was 1.2–1.4.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.