The general coloration is grayish or pale brown, the head and undersides are paler, and the feet are usually darker. Rhynchogale resembles Ichneumia in having coarse guard hairs protruding from the close underfur and the same dental formula. Rhynchogale differs from Ichneumia in the frequent reduction of the hallux and the lack of a naked crease from the nose to the upper lip. Rhynchogale has hind soles that are hairy to the roots of the toes.
Females have two abdominal pairs of mammae.
Available information suggests that Rhynchogale is terrestrial, nocturnal, and solitary. The diet includes wild fruit, termites, and probably small vertebrates. A litter of two newborn with eyes still unopened was found in a small cave on a rocky hill in Zambia in December. A pregnant female containing two embryos was found in the same area, also in December. In Zimbabwe, births occur around November, and litters contain up to three young.