This spiny rat is recorded from Bahia north to Tocantins in Brazil. In the semiarid Caatinga, it uses rock crevices as shelter and nesting places.
The back is ash gray; belly hairs are usually white, and the tail is blackish brown above and whitish gray below.
In the Caatinga, it often uses granite or sandstone outcrops. Accounts report nests made with cotton, straw, or dry leaves in rock crevices or hollow trees.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.