This hamster is reported from hilly central China. A specialist monograph places it in warm, humid forests of southern Shaanxi and western Henan and describes a dark gray-brown back mixed with black hairs.
The back is dark gray-brown, mixed with many entirely black hairs. Other hairs have a broad beige band near the tip and a minute black tip.
The monograph lists warm, humid forests on hilly terrain as its habitat.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.