The rat is mostly dark brown with paler brownish specks.

Its long fur is covered with even longer guard hairs.

This species lives in forested mountains, between 700 and 2400 meters.

Arthur Conan Doyle refers to a 'giant rat of Sumatra' in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire".

Some scholars, including Leslie S. Klinger, have identified that rat as Sundamys infraluteus.