Francesco Castracane degli Antelminelli (b. Fano, Italy, 19 July 1817; d. Rome 27 March 1899) was an Italian naturalist.
Francesco Castracane degli Antelminelli was educated at the Jesuits' school in Reggio Emilia, and was ordained priest in 1840.
Four years later he was made canon of the cathedral in Fano, and at the same time resumed his studies at the Collegio dei Nobili in Rome.
He investigated their structure and physiological functions and, particularly in his last years, their processes of reproduction, also on account of its bearing on some of the problems of biology, geology, and even hydrography.
He was the author of a large number of papers, published chiefly in the proceedings of the Accademia dei Nuovi Lincei, over whose meetings he presided for many years.