It is one of the Mesoamerican rice mice with the darkest and saturated colouring of all their group, a trait that gives it the name and distinguishes it from relatives of tighter tones within the same complex of species. It lives in the tropical rainforest of a relatively reduced Central American strip, and as the rest of species of the so-called "alfaroi group" was moved in 2024 from the genre Handleyomys to the new own gender established for the whole group after recent genetic and morphological studies. It grows mainly by the soil of the sotobosque, a habit shared with the rest of its nearby relatives of the same group of rice mice.
Small-to-medium-sized rodent, dark and saturated red brown fur, darker than that of other related species of its group, moderately large ears and long tail. It differs from other species of its same group mainly by that darker coloring, although field identification continues to require capture in most cases.
Footprint with 4 front fingers and 5 rear fingers, 1.5-2 cm rear, similar to that of other similar-size sotobosque rodents.
Tropical rainforest, with dense subsoil, from low lands to mid-mountain heights.
Omnivorous, it feeds on seeds, fruits and insects from the subsoil.
Solitary, of nighttime activity, it travels mainly on the soil of the underground.
Its populations are considered stable in most of its area of distribution.
Deforestation and fragmentation of the rainforest by agricultural and livestock expansion in its distribution area.
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