This small pocket gopher has been recorded in Montana’s Ruby Valley. Its upper fur is yellowish brown with darker tips, while its underside and feet are paler. Its habitat preferences remain poorly known.
The field guide gives an approximate total length of 19 cm and mass near 95 g. It describes small eyes and ears, a short nearly hairless tail, long foreclaws, and fur-lined cheek pouches opening beside the mouth. The upper coat is yellowish brown with darker-tipped hairs; the feet are whitish.
It feeds mainly in underground burrows on roots, tubers, and some surface vegetation. Idaho State University’s species account says it is active year-round and also forages above ground at night or on overcast days. It carries food in its cheek pouches and stores it in underground chambers; it is mainly solitary except during the breeding season. The account lists shrub steppe, grasslands, and subalpine mountain meadows as habitats.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.