The tropical ground squirrel has a grizzled black-and-tan back and a long, slender tail. The genus has an unusually semi-arboreal body plan for ground squirrels; a western Mexican study found this species eating seeds and fruit pulp.
Its back is grizzled black and tan, its tail is long relative to its body, and its ears are short and broadly rounded.
It inhabits Mexican upland desert scrub and tropical deciduous forest, including rocky canyon areas, and has adapted to some agricultural land. A western Mexican study recorded it eating seeds and fruit pulp.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.