It has been argued that a Universe governed by Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity can be compatible with current cosmological constraints. The extra fields introduced in this theory can behave as both dark matter and dark energy, unifying the dark sector in one coherent framework. We show the various roles the extra fields can play in the expansion of the Universe and study the evolution of linear perturbations in the various regimes. We find that, as a unified theory of the dark sector, Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity will lead to excessive fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background on large scales. In the presence of a cosmological constant, however, the extra fields can behave as a form of nonparticulate dark matter and can lead to a cosmology which is entirely compatible with current observations of large scale structure. We discuss the interpretation of this form of dark matter and how it can differ from standard, particulate dark matter. © 2009 The American Physical Society.