Budin's chinchilla rat is known from one documented locality in northwestern Argentina. It has a gray-brown back and a dark throat patch, and nests in highland grassland and rocky outcrops.
Its back is grayish brown and darker than the sides, with a dark gray-brown patch on the throat.
The known habitat is highland grassland with discontinuous rocky outcrops, where nests are built among the rocks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.