The Lijiang woolly mouse belongs to the genus Eothenomys. The species status is unstable and controversial. The type locality is Lijiang, Yunnan. Some scientists regard it as a synonym of the black-bellied woolly mouse (<Eothenomys melanogaster>), and some scientists regard it as a synonym of the big woolly mouse (<Eothenomysmiletus>). Molecular systematics confirms that it is an independent species. It is easy to confuse it with the big woolly mouse in morphology, but the Lijiang woolly mouse is larger and has a relatively shorter tail.