A small highland hamster with a grayish yellow-brown back, grayish-white belly, and short tail with a white underside. It eats grass seeds, grains, and insects.
The 2017 account gives head-and-body length as 8–10 cm, tail length as 2.9–4.2 cm, and weight as 22–48 g. The short tail is light brown above and white below.
The 2017 account records forests, shrublands, desert steppe, swamps, and highland meadows at 3,100–5,200 m. It feeds on grass seeds, grains, and insects, and is mainly nocturnal.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.