The gray birch mouse occurs in the southwestern Altai of Kazakhstan and China. This small rodent has a pale underside and a relatively short tail, and it hibernates in winter.
The back is gray to gray-brown with scattered black hairs, while the underside is light gray. It lacks a dark dorsal stripe; the tail is gray-brown above and whitish gray below, and is relatively short compared with the body.
It is described as active at dusk and solitary outside the breeding season. It hibernates in the cold season and may become torpid on cold summer days. A 1990 study trapped individuals in the southwestern Altai at about 1,800 m.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.