Mice belonging to this genus are generally called Philippine forest mice and can be found on most islands of the Philippines except in Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago, and the Batanes and Babuyan group of islands.

The tail is longer or nearly equal the length of the head and body.

The soft and thick fur of these mice is darker on the back while the front fur is paler, often nearly white with a moderate orange yellow wash.

The hind feet are moderately long and narrow, have six plantar pads, and have digits 2–4 notably longer than digit 5 and the hallux.

The species generally inhabit narrow ecological niches with small endemic ranges.