The large African wading bird that is the only living species in the genus Balaeniceps is the shoebill.
Its scientific name is Balaeniceps rex, and its enormous, shoe-shaped bill gives it its familiar common name. The species inhabits freshwater swamps and marshes across parts of central tropical Africa, including South Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.
The shoebill was formally described by John Gould in 1850, who placed it in its own genus. Although it was once treated as a stork, anatomical and genetic evidence now places it among the pelecaniform birds, closer to pelicans and herons than to true storks.
The question’s wording refers to living species: fossil relatives, including Paludiavis and Goliathia, show that the shoebill has an extinct evolutionary history. Its large bill helps it seize lungfish, catfish, water snakes, and other wetland prey.