This rat is known from the Ibarra area of northern Ecuador. A 2019 study reexamined specimens and supported treating it as a distinct species; the habitat record comes from a limited specimen label.
Its body is robust, its tail is longer than head-and-body length, and its hind feet are strong. Its ears are small and rounded, and its whiskers are long.
The type specimen label says it was caught in a meadow near the city of Ibarra. This single record does not establish the habitat of the whole species.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.