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Punctuation - The Oxford Comma

Also known as the serial or series comma.

A serial comma is a comma placed immediately after the penultimate

1 - second to last - term in a series of three or more terms. An Oxford
comma is sometimes necessary to avoid ambiguity - when a
sentence can be interpreted in more than one way.

A list of three items might be punctuated either as

2 "I like apples, oranges and pears” or “I like apples, oranges, and pears”.

Does this sentence refer to two people, called Meryl and Julia?
“Among the guests were his two children,
Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.”
3
Adding a serial comma makes it clear that there are four people:
“Among the guests were his two children,
Meryl Streep, and Julia Roberts.”