The species is found in primary, secondary and disturbed forest over a wide range of elevations.

These dimensions are about twice as large as those of a typical brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), which suggests about eight times the body mass.

[4] Guy Musser describes the Flores giant rat as having small, round ears, a chunky body, and a small tail, and as appearing to be adapted for life on the ground with refuge in burrows.

[5] The Flores giant rat has been suggested to have been a prey item of the extinct dwarf human species Homo floresiensis.

Threats include subsistence hunting and predation by dogs and cats.