A rodent recorded in northern Ethiopia. It uses a wide range of settings, from dry woodland at lower elevations to high-altitude grassland and moorland.
The back is blackish brown and looks speckled because the hairs have black tips with white bands just below them. The underside is cream yellow to pale orange; the tail hairs are black above and white below.
The species is recorded in the Simien Mountains and between Lake Tana and Mount Guna in northern Ethiopia. Dry woodland is reported at about 1,800 m in Wanzaye; high-altitude grassland and moorland are reported at about 3,800 m on Mount Guna and in the Chennek area of the Simien Mountains.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.