The Key to Scientific Names
- BALAENICEPS
(Balaenicipitidae; Ϯ Shoebill B. rex) L. balaena whale < Gr. φαλαινα phalaina whale; -ceps -headed < caput, capitis head; the bizarre Shoebill or Whale-headed Stork preys to a great extent on catfish and lungfish; "Mr. Gould exhibited and described a new form in birds obtained from the interior of Africa, by Masfield Parkyns, Esq., Balæniceps rex is a stock [sic] with a perfectly anomalous beak of immense power, somewhat resembling that of Cancroma, while in stature it nearly equals the Maraboa and Adjutant" (Gould 1850); "I have the pleasure of introducing to the notice of the Society on the present occasion the most extraordinary bird I have seen for many years ... For this bird I propose the generic name of BALÆNICEPS, with the following characters: - Bill enormously robust, equal in breadth and depth; sides of the upper mandible much swollen; culmen slightly elevated, depressed in the middle of its length, and terminating at the point in a very powerful hook; tomiæ sharp, turning inwards and very convex; lower mandible very powerful, with a sharp concave cutting edge and a truncated tip ... head very large ... BALÆNICEPS REX" (Gould 1852); "Balæniceps Gould, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1851 (1852), p. 1. Type, by original designation, Balæniceps rex Gould." (Peters, 1931, I, p. 125).
Var. Balaniceps.
