This gerbil was described from animals originating in Darfur, Sudan. The described individual had a brown back, white belly and limbs, and long whiskers. The 1838 account also records movement and feeding in captivity.
In Cuvier’s account, the described animal had a brown back, crown, and upper thighs; the top of the muzzle, sides of the neck, and flanks were yellowish fawn. The area above the eyes, sides of the muzzle, jaw, throat, neck, chest, belly, inner thighs, and all four limbs were white. Its thick, flesh-colored tail carried sparse, short hairs, brownish above and whitish below. Its ears were bare and flesh-colored. Its whiskers were very long, mostly black with some white, and its hairs were silky.
The captive animals reported in 1838 hid by day and searched for food from dusk into the night. They walked on all fours and stood on their hind legs without leaning on the tail when they stopped. They picked up food with their teeth, gnawing large pieces and passing small seeds to the molars. When a male and a female were housed together, they gathered their cotton into one nest after it had been divided into two portions.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.