[6][7][8][9] The reticulated python was first described in 1801 by German naturalist Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider, who described two zoological specimens held by the Göttingen Museum in 1801 that differed slightly in colour and pattern as separate species—Boa reticulata and Boa rhombeata.

[10] The specific name, reticulatus, is Latin meaning "net-like", or reticulated, and is a reference to the complex color pattern.

[14] Raymond Hoser erected the genus Broghammerus for the reticulated python in 2004, naming it after German snake expert Stefan Broghammer, on the basis of dorsal patterns distinct from those of the genus Python, and a dark mid-dorsal line from the rear to the front of the head, and red or orange (rather than brown) iris colour.

[15] In 2008, Lesley H. Rawlings and colleagues reanalysed Kluge's morphological data and combined it with genetic material, finding the reticulated clade to be an offshoot of the Australo-Papuan lineage as well.

[16] Most taxonomists choose to ignore Broghammerus and other names by Hoser as its description lacked scientific rigour and was not published in a reputable journal.

Apparently, the population of the Sangihe Islands north of Sulawesi represents another such subspecies, which is basal to the P. r. reticulatus plus P. r. jampeanus clade, but it is not yet formally described.

[29] The specimen once widely accepted as the largest-ever "accurately" measured snake, that being Colossus, a specimen kept at the Highland Park Zoo (now the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 1950s and early 1960s, with a peak reported length of 8.7 metres (28 ft 7 in) from a measurement in November 1956, was later shown to have been substantially shorter than previously reported.

[31] The previous reports had been constructed by combining partial measurements with estimations to compensate for "kinks", since completely straightening an extremely large live python is virtually impossible.

The hide was sent to a laboratory to be tanned, but it was either lost or destroyed, and now only the skull and selected vertebrae and ribs remain in the museum's collection.

[30][31] Numerous reports have been made of larger snakes, but since none of these was measured by a scientist nor any of the specimens deposited at a museum, they must be regarded as unproven and possibly erroneous.

The back typically has a series of irregular diamond shapes flanked by smaller markings with light centers.

In zoo exhibits, the colour pattern may seem garish, but in a shadowy jungle environment amid fallen leaves and debris, it allows them to virtually disappear.

[38] For this reason, scientists do not accept the validity of length measurements unless performed on a dead or anesthetized snake that is later preserved in a museum collection or stored for scientific research.

[31] A reticulated python kept in the United States in Kansas City, Missouri, named "Medusa" is considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the longest living snake ever kept in captivity.

[27] Among the largest documented prey items are a half-starved sun bear of 23 kg (50 lb 11 oz) that was eaten by a 6.95 m (22 ft 10 in) specimen and took some 10 weeks to digest.

In 2015, the species was added to the Lacey Act of 1900, prohibiting import and interstate transport due to its "injurious" history with humans.

Other notable color mutations recorded in this species include "sunfire", "motley", "Aztec", "ocelot", "rainbow", and "goldenchild".

It remains unclear as to why some individual pythons with the jaguar mutation display neurological issues associated with this genetic trait and others do not.