Extremal continua: A class of non-separating subcontinua

The notion of a terminal continuum, as defined by D.E. Bennett and J.B. Fugate, is used to introduce extremal continua, a class of non-separating subcontinua of a continuum. An extremal continuum can be characterized as a proper subcontinuum Y of a metric continuum X with the property that Y contains a point of irreducibility of each irreducible subcontinuum of X that meets Y. If Y is an extremal subcontinuum of X, then Y does not separate any subcontinuum of X containing Y; moreover, if Y is a proper subcontinuum of X and Y does not cut any subcontinuum of X containing Y, then Y is extremal in X.