Why do lactating females nurse alien offspring? A review of hypotheses and empirical evidence

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Family insurance: kin selection and cooperative breeding in a solitary primate (Microcebus murinus) (2006, background): “Milk evacuation, when mothers allonurse to evacuate surplus milk that their own offspring did not consume ( Roulin 2002 ), is also unlikely to play a role because allonursing was basically reciprocal.”
Recognition systems and biological organization: The perception component of social recognition (2004, background): “If there is no cost of nursing from unrelated or distantly related females, then selection will not favor expression of recognition; that is, preferential nursing from its mother (see also Roulin 2002).”
A review of social recognition in pinnipeds (2003, background): “Adoptive behaviour, although not alone indicative of recognition errors (Roulin, 2002; 2003), also tracks the phocid/otariid split.”
Variation in Individual Investment Strategies among Social Animals (2006, background): “The incidence of helping was higher in isolated habitats suggesting dispersal costs set the scene for cooperative breeding in long-tailed tits (Russell 2001).”