Until 2000, the larger S. kinghorni was generally considered a subspecies of S. amethistina, and this change of classification has still not been universally reflected in literature.

[6] In 2014 cladistic analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial genes of pythons and boas, R. Graham Reynolds and colleagues supported the distinctness of M. tracyae, M. amethistina, and M. clastolepis, but were less confident of M. kinghorni and M.

[7] According to McDiarmid et al. (1999), all cases in which the specific name was spelled with a y follow Daudin's (1803) Python amethystinus and are therefore unjustified emendations.

The diet of the amethystine python generally consists of birds, bats, rats, possums, and other small mammals.

[11] Larger Papuan specimens catch and eat wallabies, and cuscus, waiting by creek and river banks for prey seeking drinking water.