This spiny rat has a reddish-brown back and white belly. Peruvian survey specimens came from floodplain forest and nearby secondary forest.
Four adults examined in a Peruvian survey had rich reddish-brown backs and dense, soft white belly fur. Their tails were dark above and paler below.
Adults caught in the Río Gálvez floodplain included one from seasonally flooded forest and three from primary forest on a levee island. One juvenile was recorded in secondary upland forest near the river.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.