[en] Excited states in ¹⁶⁴Ta were populated in the ¹⁴²Nd(²⁷Al,5n)¹⁶⁴Ta reaction and investigated using the AFRODITE spectrometer array. The yrast rotational decay sequence up to spin 21^- is identified for the first time and assigned to the π[514]9/2^-(multiply-in-circle sign)ν[660]1/2⁺ configuration. A less intense, excited band is also identified. Low-spin signature inversion is observed in the yrast band, and is compared with the extended total Routhian surface calculations. It is likely that quadrupole pairing plays a role in generating the anomalous signature splitting, but an additional mechanism apart from the assumed mean field and quadrupole pairing interaction may be required to account for the experimental data