 Only three specimens of this poorly understood species are known; the last were collected in 1932 at the mountain Tanke Salokko.The IUCN Red List therefore lists the species as Data Deficient.Although "R. salocco" is usually considered a subspecies or synonym of "Rattus xanthurus", "R. salocco" was recognized as a separate species more closely related to "R. marmosurus" in the 2005 third edition of "Mammal Species of the World".