The color of this species is brownish black above and below. The hair of S. ponceleti is long and fine, without woolly underfur, whereas it is coarser in the other two species. The tail of Solomys appears to be prehensile and lacks hairs for most of its length. The well-padded feet are supplied with mobile and strongly clawed digits. The incisor teeth are broad and stout.
Females have four mammae.
Naked-tailed rats inhabit thick woods and are apparently arboreal. The natives of the Solomon Islands occasionally eat these rats.