[4] The tree-rat has a greyish-brown coat that is shaggy and coarse and has a creamy white underbelly.

[6][7] Three subspecies of the black-footed tree-rat have been recognised, based on minor morphological differences in skull and foot shape, as well as variation in colouration.

The black-footed tree-rat is typically solitary and nocturnal, although multiple individuals can sometimes be found denning in the same hollow or fallen log.

Mesembriomys gouldii has a range extending from the savannahs of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland westward to the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

[8] The estimated global population is 30,000,[6] although the distribution and density is poorly known in Western Australia and Queensland, where records are far more sparse.