The dorsal mesentery of the stomach, also called the dorsal mesogastrium, becomes the greater omentum. Hanging from the greater curvature of the stomach, the greater omentum overlies the transverse colon and small intestine. The subdivisions of the greater omentum are named according to what organs they span between: the gastrophrenic ligament (stomach to diaphragm), gastrosplenic ligament (stomach to spleen), and splenorenal ligament (spleen to left kidney), gastrocolic ligament (stomach to transverse colon), and the omental apron. The omental apron is the portion of the greater omentum that freely hangs from the transverse colon.

The spleen develops within the dorsal mesogastrium, and so it is embedded within the greater omentum, its adult derivative.

In the movie of a sagittal section through the stomach and transverse colon shown to the right, the greater omentum, derived from the dorsal mesogastrium, folds on itself along with the stomach (top red structure), pancreas (green structure), and transverse colon (lower red structure) to form a four layered membrane. The peritoneum fuses these structures to the posterior abdominal wall. The free hanging portion of the greater omentum is called the omental apron.