The first description was published by John Gould in 1845, naming the type location as Moore's River for a collection made at the interior of Western Australia.

[2] The phylogeny of the species is variably placed by the results of early analyses, although revision of alliances in the probably polyphyletic genus only demonstrates a close relationship to the silky mouse Pseudomys apodemoides.

The colour of the pelage is mid-grey with patches of fawn, the paler underparts extend to white areas of fur below the eye and over the snout.

The introduced european mouse, Mus musculus, has distinctly smaller eyes, a characteristic notch on the incisors and familiar mousey odour.

[6] Their nature is gentle and docile, foraging at night and residing in deep burrow complexes or nests arranged in leaf detritus or the hollows of logs.

[6] These mice are well adapted to an arid and sandy environment; they are nocturnal and fossorial, have plugged entrances to burrows and huddle in groups to decrease evaporation rates.