Natal dispersal (movement from the site of birth to the site of reproduction) is a pervasive but highly varied characteristic of life forms. Thus, understanding it in any species informs many aspects of biology, but studying it in most species is difficult. In the grey wolf Canis lupus, natal dispersal has been well studied. Maturing members of both sexes generally leave their natal packs, pair with opposite‐sex dispersers from other packs, near or far, select a territory, and produce their own offspring. However, three movement patterns of some natal‐dispersing wolves remain unexplained: 1) long‐distance dispersal when potential mates seem nearby, 2) round‐trip travels from their natal packs for varying periods and distances, also called extraterritorial movements, and often not resulting in pairing, and 3) coincidental dispersal by individual wolves from a given area in the same basic directions and over the same long distances. This perspective article documents and discusses these unexplained dispersal patterns, suggests possible explanations, and calls for additional research to understand them more clearly.

中文翻译：

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灰狼 Canis lupus 出生传播的不明模式

出生扩散（从出生地到繁殖地的移动）是生命形式普遍但高度多样的特征。因此，在任何物种中了解它可以为生物学的许多方面提供信息，但在大多数物种中研究它是困难的。在灰狼 Canis lupus 中，已经很好地研究了出生扩散。成熟的两性成员通常会离开他们出生的群体，与来自其他群体的异性传播者配对，无论远近，选择一个领地，并产生自己的后代。然而，一些出生分散的狼的三种运动模式仍然无法解释：1）当潜在的配偶似乎在附近时长距离扩散，2）从它们的出生狼群中往返旅行不同的时间和距离，也称为域外运动，通常不会导致配对，3) 个别狼从给定区域以相同的基本方向和相同的长距离偶然分散。这篇观点文章记录并讨论了这些无法解释的扩散模式，提出了可能的解释，并呼吁进行额外的研究以更清楚地了解它们。