What is the ligamentum venosum a remnant of?

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The ligamentum venosum is the fibrous remnant of the ductus venosus, a fetal vessel that shunted oxygenated blood from the umbilical vein directly into the inferior vena cava, bypassing the liver. After birth this ductus closes and becomes a connective tissue band along the liver’s visceral surface (in the fissure for the ligamentum venosum, near the caudate lobe and porta hepatis). This is distinct from the umbilical vein, which becomes the round ligament (ligamentum teres), and from the hepatic or portal veins, which have different fetal origins and roles.