This spiny rat lives in western Amazonian forest. A 2015 reference listed only nine known localities in western Brazil and northern Bolivia; all recorded sites were in upland forest that is not seasonally flooded.
The reddish-brown back is heavily streaked with black; the belly and feet are white. The sparsely furred tail is dark above and pale below.
At the nine localities reported, it was observed only in upland terra firme forest that is not seasonally flooded.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.