The fur is black or blackish-brown and has a purplish-brown sheen. The hairy-tailed mole lacks the fleshy nasal tentacles of the star-nosed mole, but both possess fossorial specializations, e.g., ...

The eyes of this species are larger than those of the hairy-tailed mole, and its blackish-brown to black fur is longer, the metallic sheen absent. The limbs are short, and the front feet are ...