This brush-furred rat is recorded from the Chercher Mountains of eastern Ethiopia. The description was based on specimens collected in montane forest near Hirna.
The dorsal fur is blackish brown with a reddish cast. Red bases, black tips, and pale bands give it a fine speckled appearance; the underside ranges from grayish yellow to pale rufous.
The holotype was collected in montane forest between Hirna and Deder. The paper also reports specimens from highly disturbed Podocarpus forest at that locality.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.